The Chances you Never Took
by The-Lesser-of-two-Goods
Summary: When the socially awkward Roxas meets the enigmatic Axel in a grocery store, he keeps finding himself thrown into the destiny of this man. Will Roxas step out of his comfort bubble and, for once, let someone in? Boyxboy, might get fluffy.
1. Prologue: The Man in the Grocery Store

**Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction like this, so go easy on me. xD If you want to read more by me, check out my other Kingdom Hearts fanfiction, The Forgotten Heart. That one actually follows the storyline of the game. xD And it's seriously lacking in reviews, as I'm sure this one will be.**

**Warning, this chapter is pretty light, but future chapters will most definitely be boyxboy fluff. I'll rate it teen for now, but I might change it to mature later for suggestive scenes. Anyway, please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I never do. D: I own my plot, though!**

**Prologue:**

**The Man in the Grocery Store**

_Spelled out your name and list the reasons._

_Faint of heart, don't call me back._

_I imagined you when I was distant, not insistent._

_I followed suit and laid out on my back, imagine that._

_A million hours left to think of you and think of that._

'The Con' by Tegan and Sara

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"Rox, just drink your coffee, it's probably getting cold." Hayner commanded his friend, his own hands wrapped around his hot cup of coffee as well. As they walked down the street, freezing cold on their first day of winter break, it mostly served as a reassuring warmth for his fingers. He hadn't even taken a sip yet.

"What's taking Olette and Pence so long?" Roxas asked. "We've been pacing this damn sidewalk for the past half an hour." They all had plans to stock up on groceries for Olette's winter party in a few days, and there was no sign of them. Still, seeing Hayner's wary look, he brought the cup to his lips and sipped in the black coffee. It was bitter and seared the roof of his mouth and his tongue, but at least something was _happening_.

"We're here!" Olette called from the street out of the window of her old, rusty Honda Hiccup. She waved out of the window and parked by the Starbucks that they said they were meeting them by, and both her and Pence stepped out of the car. Pence immediately frowned upon seeing Hayner and Roxas's coffees- before they had met Olette, that had been a pasttime of all three of theirs- getting coffees in the afternoon.

But that had long since disappeared.

"Chill," Hayner smiled at his friend, "we just needed something to do while we waited for you." His cup must have been empty, because he threw it behind him without even checking to see if there was a cat he would have hit, which he did. "Where were you?"

Roxas could see the moving of lips, but could only hear a distant mutter. He sighed and rolled his eyes, pausing only to pull his headphones out of his ears. Either he would have to start keeping those things off when his friends were around or they would have to speak up, and guess which one involved less people?

"...and something_ huge_ was stuck up in the engine, we don't even know how it got there." Olette finished, but in a meaningful pause, she added, "Or what _was_ stuck up there at all, I guess." Much to their surprise, Hayner let out a sharp, but peeved laugh. He always disliked things that people couldn't control, especially if it meant he was going to be penalized for it in any way, shape or form.

"Let's just get the shopping done?" Roxas suggested, feeling the tension between Hayner and Olette. It was inevitable, however- at the party that they were at just the night before, Hayner had thrown up all over Olette's shirt. It wasn't a pretty sight, but no matter how much Hayner apologized (or how half-assed those apologies were), Olette hadn't quite forgiven him.

Without any further arguments, they walked the half block it took to make it to the grocery store. Hayner was slightly hyper from all of the coffee he drank, and Roxas was mellow from the coffee that he didn't. The moment they stepped in, Pence took off towards the ice cream aisle- of course they would need sea salt ice cream for the party. It was mostly because Pence wouldn't drink, so he had to get his hype somewhere.

"What do we need?" Roxas asked, breaking the awkward silence left between Olette and Hayner. Olette looked back at him through half-closed eyes, apparently trying to appear smug to Hayner, who didn't seem to give a crap. She smoothed her curly brown hair back behind her head and responded to Roxas, but Roxas only.

"We need chips, and a lot of them. Just go and grab some that you think the guests'll like. I'll go get the dip." Olette walked off, leaving Hayner at the entrance of the grocery store, who apparently decided to acknowledge his lonesomeness for the first time.

"Hey, what about me?" Hayner blasted angrily. It was a good thing that he wasn't the angry type when he was drunk, or else he could have really scared the crap out of everyone else at the party the other night- no, he was just the sick type.

"Get me a new shirt," Olette snapped, twisting her head only to glare at Hayner for a few moments. Hayner recoiled slightly with a look on his face like he'd just been slapped, but then his face twisted into fury again, and instead moved towards the magazines. He figured Olette could get it all on her own if she was going to be a bitch about it.

Roxas, in the meantime, was rummaging through the chips in the grocery store. Everything either looked like it tasted like shit mixed with piss or was overpriced. A figure to the left of him must have noticed him grimacing at the chips, because he reached past him and grabbed a bag of them, handing them to Roxas.

Roxas took a moment to observe the character; he was tall, at least a foot taller than Roxas. He had to have been older than him as well, he had that look in his face that just screamed, 'I don't have to sneak behind my parents' backs to buy alcohol.' His hair was a fiery red, spiking up at the oddest places, and he had odd tattoos on his cheeks, just barely noticeable. His eyes proved to Roxas that his hair was a natural color, as green eyes were most commonly paired up with red hair. "Try those," the man suggested, "everything else here is crap."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you down this aisle?" He bit his lip- Roxas was never too good at meeting new friends. He was lucky enough to meet Hayner and Pence when he was in gradeschool. During middle school when they met the first- and only- female member of their gang, Olette, it was really Hayner and Pence that had introduced themselves to her. They both had a crush on Olette and were trying to impress her, but once they found out that she could beat their asses in skateboarding, that idea faded, and she became one of the guys.

Bottom line, Roxas wasn't good with new people. Never was, probably never would be. He sucked at socializing, even if it was just for a moment. He always seemed to make things awkward. Still, the redhead smirked and answered him calmly, "I'm getting some chips for the bar I work at. We're always out."

Roxas looked down at the bag that the man had handed him. "But this is the last one." Roxas argued- why did he just do him a favor? This guy was not only grown up and with a job, but he was helping out a seventeen year-old with his best friend's party snacks, which would be devoured in moments, anyway.

The man shrugged, stuffing his gloved hands into his leather jacket. "I know." He just smiled then, and walked past Roxas without a second glance. "See ya 'round, kid." As he turned the corner of the aisle, Roxas realized he had been staring.

"Nice first impression, retard," Roxas scolded himself, walking the opposite direction to go meet Pence in the ice cream aisle, "_But this is the last one_," he mocked himself in a pissed off voice. _Good job, Roxas, your socializing skills just flew through the roof._

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"What's got you so pissed?" Pence asked, pulling out a sea-salt ice cream from the box as they began to load up the old Honda. Roxas grimaced- Pence really shouldn't have used pissed in a sentence while he was eating a salty ice cream bar.

"Pence, save those for the party!" Olette scolded him.

"What, so some other guy can throw up on your shirt?" Hayner jumped in now, a scowl still apparent on his usually calm and collected face.

"Oh, shut up, you still owe me a new shirt!" Olette countered, and Hayner crossed his arms over his chest, leaving Roxas, the only one who wouldn't destroy the car with his emotions, to close the trunk.

"I'm not pissed," Roxas replied, "I just realized how bad I am at talking to people."

"What, did you find a cute boy at the grocery store?" Olette asked. Roxas turned away, slightly embarrassed. He wasn't even too sure about his sexuality, he never had been, but if anybody could pick up on these things, it was Olette. Of course, he was around Hayner and Pence so much, that they were bound to pick up on it as well. Olette just had that female's-sixth-sense, and she was the only one in the group that actually got the grades that a college would accept.

"You're the same way at parties," Hayner started, ignoring Olette's comment. "Don't worry, tomorrow night, we'll get you talking to some people. Maybe the beer'll give you a jump start, but," he waved that off and continued, "I invited some college students I met when I was visiting University of Twilight Town, and-"

"U of TT?" Olette mocked, "You'll be lucky if they'll accept you at a _community_ college with your grades." She jingled the keys, signaling the two of them to get into the car. They were staying the night at Olette's so they could help set up for the party, but beforehand they were probably going to hang out on top of their building.

"Like I was _saying_ before I was so _rudely_ interrupted," Hayner began, walking into the car and slamming the door behind him. The engine roared to life and they began on their way to Olette's house to drop off the groceries, "I'm inviting some college kids, so you're gonna kind of be forced to be social."

"Yay," Roxas said without much joy in his voice. At that moment, he wished that he had his coffee- pure caffeine would do him some good at that point, if anything to numb out the embarrassment that he had just endured. If he _was_ blowing it all out of proportion, he didn't seem to notice.

He also wished that Olette's car had a heating system. He could see his own breath in that damn machine.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The Clock Tower was ticking beneath the four of them as they all sat on top of it, eating four more Sea Salt ice creams that Pence had pulled out of the new box that he bought, which left about four left for the party. That didn't make any sense at all, but Olette had such a stressful day that she didn't really mind.

"Will you guys just make up?" Pence asked with an odd flare in his voice, unusually angry. Although, a few more moments and Roxas would have probably blown up in the exact same fashion. The silence between Olette and Hayner wasn't just awkward, it was annoying and putting a cramp in their afternoon.

"I'll forgive him once he apologizes for barfing all over my shirt," Olette huffed, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Well, I'll apologize to her once she apologizes for spiking my drink with brandy. You know I hate that stuff." Hayner glared at Olette, which was a start, but Olette looked back at Hayner with a shocked look on her face.

"I didn't spike anything. I don't even like brandy myself. You know me better than that you big retard." She shook her head and looked forth into the sunset, her eyes looking down at the busy roads beneath them. Roxas had an instance where he almost fell off of the clock tower before, so he never looked down, just forward. In many ways, Olette was much stronger than Roxas was. She was social, attracted boys, and very good at everything she did, including school. Roxas always envied her in a freakish way.

"You're lying," Hayner said after an obvious hesitation.

This went on for a little while longer, but it only led to Roxas spacing out, looking forward at the bloody sun, thinking about that man that he had met at the grocery store. He was such an anomaly, and made Roxas feel like milk- bland and unexciting. He shrugged and stuck his headphones back in his ears, Mindless Self Indulgence drowning out Olette and Hayner's petty argument. He probably wouldn't ever see the man again, anyway. Thinking a little harder, he licked the salty ice cream he had been presented with.

Hopefully the man liked milk.

Hopefully, for his sake, those chips were good.

**Author's Note: A little short, but I think it was a pretty good prologue. Please review!**


	2. Party Preparation

**Author's Note: Wow, thank you to all of you who favorited and alerted, and to TheKabbageKat for my first ever review for this story! I'm very excited to see where this will go, and I've got some ideas, but let's just watch them come into play, shall we?**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, Ariel would be going on a rant right now about how unfair it is that she isn't a Princess of Heart. So, I don't. xD**

**Chapter One:**

**Party Preparation  
**

_And I don't know, and I can't guess_

_If it's gonna be okay, but now my last wish_

_Is that you do this with me_

_Kiss me here and hold my hand._

_Let me feel like I'm the only one, I know you can._

_Won't you do it for me now?_

'Do It For me Now' by Angels and Airwaves

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They had gotten home late, which was expected. Sometimes, Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette could stay sitting on top of that clock tower for hours. Roxas wouldn't have a problem as long as he never looked down, although he was still harrassed for his needless fear of heights every once in a while.

"You guys sleep in the living room," Olette called down to them, dumping a few blankets and pillows in the center of the room from the balcony upstairs which she was yelling at them from, "I'll be up in my room. And try not to wake me up too early- it's been a long day, I need some sleep." Olette yawned loudly.

"Aw, we can't sleep in your room, Olette?" Hayner asked unnecessarily, although he did earn a couple of sniggers from Roxas and Pence.

"Good-_night_," Olette shouted in the angriest voice she could muster, and they heard her slamming the door to her room. None of them had ever been up there for as long as they knew her; she said it was some psycho rule of her parents', but something told Roxas that she was hiding something.

"She's still pissed at you, man," Pence began, grabbing the biggest blanket that he could find out of the pile and one of the old pillows; it was the one that still had the barf stain on it from about four years ago. Things were safer back when they were younger and it was okay to sleep in the same room. Then again, Olette probably didn't want to sleep in the same room with them even if they could, because Pence's throwing up problem never really stopped.

"I know," Hayner mumbled, grabbing the second blanket out of the pile. None of them were really tired, but they knew that the next day would probably be long and tiring. Plus, Hayner had a long day of sucking up ahead of him to get Olette to forgive him. "All I did was throw up on her shirt. I'm not the only one who's thrown up on something of hers before." He stared pointedly at Pence's pillow.

Pence twisted his face into concentration, or possibly rage. "Well, yeah, but I was twelve, and I ate too much ice cream. You're seventeen and you drank too much brandy." He laid down on the ground and covered himself in his pillow.

Hayner, however, stayed sitting on the couch. He opened his mouth to retort, but closed it again, shrugging. "You have a point."

Roxas had been completely ignoring these two, however. He was sitting on the loveseat, not even making a move to get a blanket and pillow, despite how tired he was. All he could think about was the red-headed man in the grocery store, how he didn't have the courage to say more than a few words to him, how _gorgeous_ he was. How-

"Roxas, are you listening?" Hayner asked impatiently.

Roxas stumbled back, his cheeks flaring. "What?"

"We were _saying_ that we've got to get you talking to some college dudes tomorrow. Maybe you'll find someone," Pence said suggestively. Roxas shifted where he was sitting. Since the first time that Hayner and Pence joked that he was gay and he didn't protest, he felt awkward talking about his relationships in front of them.

He felt even more awkward that his two straight guy friends were trying to set him up with another dude. How did they know who he liked? They were both in love with Olette for at least a half a year.

Before Roxas could even open his mouth to protest, someone rang the doorbell to Olette's house.

"Get it," Olette commanded the boys lazily from her room, her voice with a tone that explained how upset she was for being woken up.

"Commanding, commanding," Hayner smirked at Pence, who smiled back. Still, he stood up because Pence was already in his pajamas and lying on the floor, so he walked over to the door, which was only a few feet away. Roxas couldn't quite see who was on the other side, but Hayner's jaw had dropped.

Roxas, nervously and excitedly, hoping maybe it was the red-haired man, ran up to the door. Instead, a girl was standing there. Her hair was a dark brown, and was layered at least ten times, the longest layer going just below her shoulders, and the shortest not exceeding her eyebrows. She had dark brown eyes with golden specks in them, and one hand was buried in her jeans pocket while the other one was carrying a package of some kind.

No wonder Hayner was staring open-mouthed at her. She's a girl.

"Hey..." the girl began, obviously feeling awkward, staring at an open mouth instead of Hayner's eyes. "My stepbrother and I just moved here, and I was told to deliver this to this address?" She lifted the bag.

Hayner obviously realized that he was gawking like an idiot, because he closed his mouth and managed to grunt reassuringly. At least, the girl's nod was a little bit quicker this time, and she handed him the bag. Written across it was 'Axel's Bar'. Roxas cocked his eyebrow- since when did Olette bother ordering beer? She always looked old enough to just walk in and get it. Then again, most teenagers those days looked twenty-one or older.

"Mm." Hayner grunted.

The girl, surprisingly, smiled now, and spoke, "Aren't you guys a little young to be ordering alcohol from a bar?" Roxas didn't know what she was talking about- this girl had to be fifteen or sixteen herself. Would she be starting school with them after winter break ended?

"Aren't you a little young to be delivering alcohol?" Roxas challenged, not quite as enticed by her appearance as Hayner was. Then again, he could have been nicer, but that was just Roxas's lack of social skills as usual.

The girl smiled. "Point taken," however, she flashed them what looked like a fake ID for a moment; apparently, her name was Solstice. "I'll keep quiet." Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked the opposite direction towarrds her car, a 1996 indigo Dodge Neon, and Hayner didn't stop looking at her until she stepped into the car.

"Pig." Roxas commented under his breath lightheartedly, but Haynder didn't seem to hear.

"Who was it?" Olette came down the stairs. She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, both of them cowboy-themed, and her hair was screwed up. Obviously, she was having a difficult time going to sleep. Still, she beamed at the sight of the bag. "It's here," she smiled and took the bag from Hayner without saying thank-you.

"You're welcome," Hayner muttered.

Still, Olette frowned when she looked inside the bag. "Figures," she muttered, "I thought I ordered KWV Brandy. I meant to order Tacama."

"I told you I hate brandy!" Hayner fumed.

"Should we call them?" Pence asked, who had fallen asleep while Hayner was answering the door. Somehow, Roxas guessed that Pence's reaction to the girl would have been the same. Although he was a little more reserved about it, he was just as much of a pig as Hayner was.

"No, I'll just send Roxas over there tomorrow. I've got to clean the living room." She yawned again and began up the stairs.

"Why can't I go?" Pence asked her.

"Roxas is the only other one with a license, and I need you to help me distribute the food." Olette answered, still making her way up the stairs. She was obviously tired, and Pence should have known better than to test her while she was.

Unfortunately, Hayner didn't remember, either. "What about me?" Hayner fumed, "I've got a license. I want to see the new bar."

"Yeah, but you don't have the money to pay for gas."

"Neither does Roxas!"

"I know," Olette called, but by then, she had slammed the door to her room again.

"Of course." Roxas muttered.

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Roxas pressed down on Olette's car's horn- Twilight Town traffic on Fridays was the worst. He even had to stop at a gas station and ask some huge, smelly forty year-old man where Axel's Bar was, because it wasn't on mapquest yet and Olette lost the phone number. No wonder she wanted him to pick it up.

Finally, he parked by Axel's Bar. It was strangely small, but one of those buildings that looked small from the outside but must have stretched a mile on the inside. Everything was made out of obsidian and very modern-looking, but the windows were tainted red along with the door, which was a bright crimson.

He pushed the heavy door and was immediately blinded by the contrast of the dark against the bright morning light- for Christ's sake, it was only eight in the morning. Sighing, he made his way up to the bar, past the chairs. Nobody was there yet- it either wasn't popular yet, or nobody went to bars at night. He wouldn't know; Roxas always got his alcohol from alternative sources. The last time he tried to just get some Miller Lite from the Dominick's nearby, they started hounding him for an ID.

"Scuse me," Roxas said awkwardly, and then his heart stopped. The man standing at the bar, who was polishing glasses, turned around. It was the same red-haired man that he had seen in the grocery store not too long ago. Apparently, he recognized Roxas as well, because the tattoos under his eyes scrunched up in a smile.

"Hey, you're the kid from the grocery store," he smiled and put down the glass he had been polishing, walking up to the bar, unbelievably close to Roxas.

"I'm not a kid," Roxas rebuttled, but sent himself aback with his response. _There you go again you retard,_ Roxas mentally scolded himself, _pushing people away. Just one sentence that doesn't make people glare at you like that._

"Chill, kid," the man responded, "you know, I'm not allowed to sell alcohol to minors."

"And if I told you I wasn't a minor?" Roxas asked, crossing his arms stubbornly. Well, it was a better start. At least this time Roxas's response wasn't derogatory.

"I'd ask you what coffee you're drinking in the morning and why you're not sharing, 'cause damn, you're small." The redhead smirked as he said this, and Roxas, who usually disliked showing his own emotions openly, laughed at his jokes.

"I'm Roxas," Roxas blurted out, extending his left arm.

Much to his pleasant surprise, Axel took it. His grip wasn't very firm, but it was soft, one that reminded him of Olette's back when she used to grab Roxas's hand to drag him from place to place on field trips- they were often stuck in the same classes as each other. "Axel," he responded smugly.

"Axel?" Roxas asked, shocked. "So, you... like..."

"Own the bar?" Axel asked, releasing his grip and picking back up the glass that he was polishing, "Yup, just opened for business yesterday. I'll be going to college during the day once break ends, so I've got a co-owner, though. But I couldn't pass up an opportunity to own a bar, especially only at twenty-one years old." Axel laughed, and Roxas looked at him in awe. How the hell was he so _sociable_?

"Who's your co-owner?" Roxas asked, trying his hardest to make conversation. Axel made it surprisingly easy, but his mind kept traveling back to having to get back to Olette with the brandy. It didn't matter- it wasn't like Hayner would forgive her for getting brandy, anyway. It was probably just revenge for him throwing up on her shirt two nights before.

"Larxene, my second cousin. And my sister, Solstice'll help me own it during the night. At least, that's what she wants people to call her at Twilight Town. She's only sixteen, so hush." Axel smiled, and Roxas's arms tightened around himself where they were crossed- so he wasn't allowed to serve alcohol to minors, but he was letting his minor step sibling own the bar when he wasn't free. Yeah, that made sense. Still, he shook his head, trying to shake off the injustice. "Did you try the chips?"

Roxas brought himself back into reality- he had been staring at Axel for a while, again. "What?" he asked stupidly.

Axel smiled and brought his face closer to Roxas's, moving the heat up to his cheeks. "The chips that I recommended yesterday. Did you try them?"

Roxas shook his head. "No, they're for Olette's party tonight." He paused. "Olette's my friend. The one that ordered the alcohol from here."

Axel smiled importantly and moved away, putting the glass back on the shelf, "Right, she was my first order. Tell her thanks." He pulled another glass from the shelf. "My sister's going to that party tonight, I think. I was invited, but I gotta work, so Hayner told me to invite any girls I knew." He chuckled lowly.

_Right_, Roxas thought, _Hayner said that he invited some college kids that he met the other night. But Axel's not going to the party._ Roxas suddenly felt deflated, although in theory he shouldn't have felt anything, because he didn't even know that Axel had the choice to go in the first place. Then, he remembered, he was there for a reason, not to _flirt_ with the bar owner. Was that even legal? "I have to pick up a different kind of brandy for Olette."

Axel raised his eyebrow. "I'll sell you some because I like you. Just don't tell anybody where you got it. What kind do you need?"

Roxas's stomach did a backflip. Axel said that he _liked_ him. "Tacama," Roxas responded, faintly remembering Olette's steamed conversation, mostly with Hayner, from the night before. She was only buying the brandy to smite Hayner, after all.

Axel took a few steps to the left and grabbed one out of the cabinet. When Roxas handed Axel the money, he found himself unable to take his cobalt eyes away from Axel's antifreeze ones- there was something so _hypnotizing_ about them.

Axel seemed to notice that Roxas wasn't moving, and said lightheartedly, "Take your brandy and leave before it looks like a pedophile attack here," He smiled down at Roxas, who backed up a few steps with the bottle and nodded, turning on his heel to go back to the car. Before, he made it to the door, Axel's voice rang through the place again.

"Oh, and kid?" Axel asked. Roxas turned around to face the redheaded man, looking at him from the other side of the bar.

"Yeah?" Roxas asked nervously.

"Any problems at the party, just come and hang out here." Axel turned away so Roxas couldn't take note of his facial expression to see if he was serious or not, so Roxas assumed the latter. Without saying another word, he left the bar.

The air was freezing, but his cheeks were so hot that it didn't matter. Screw college kids at Olette's party- he was just somewhat _social_ to a 21 year-old. Not just that, but a _hot_ 21 year-old. Roxas laughed lowly as he stepped inside of the old Honda Hiccup.

A hot 21 year-old that was probably just looking out for a stupid 17 year-old and his dumb idea of a party.

It didn't help that traffic back to Olette's house still sucked.

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"Roxas! What _took_ you so long?" Olette asked Roxas heatedly, grabbing the brandy from him without a thank-you. Roxas's didn't much take this to heart- after all, she was either PMSing or stressing out from the party prep, but either way, she deserved some leeway. She was the only friend of Roxas's that didn't make a big deal out of his sexuality, or any of his other quirks, however, like his obsession with keys.

"That guy that I met at the grocery store," Roxas began, obviously floating on cloud nine, "is the owner of that new bar. His name's _Axel_."

"Didn't see that one coming," Hayner laughed, sorting through CDs, deciding which ones were to be played at the party. "And now you can help me pick out the music, 'cause I haven't heard of over half of these bands."

It figured- Roxas was always stuck with the music work. He was very rarely without his mp3 player, and when he was, he was spouting out some random band titles to himself that he wanted to listen to. It was a way of keeping himself out of social situations; being the weirdest you possibly could probably got the job done right.

"Fine," Roxas said lamely, pushing Hayner out of the way lightly, and looking through the CDs. "I can't believe you haven't heard of these guys... Rise Against, Hinder... they're all major record label." Roxas shook his head as if he was scolding a child, but he was still smiling from his encounter with Axel. "Oh," Roxas said, before he forgot, "that girl from last night, Solstice?" Roxas began.

Seeing Hayner's face suddenly perk up and his head jolt towards Roxas only made Roxas wait longer, satisfied with seeing that he had a decent reaction from somebody that day, because he only got challenging ones from Axel.

"Axel was one of the guys that you invited to Olette's party. The redheaded one. Do you remember him?" Roxas asked, lingering as he sorted through some industrial bands.

"Yeah, the guy with the tattoos on his face. Whatever. What about Solstice?"

If this guy was equipped with any more testosterone, he would be one giant pair of nuts. "He couldn't make it, and you told him to invite as many girls as he could, so he invited her. She'll be coming to the party."

"Nice," Olette said, "invite tens of others that I've never met before. Whatever- you're cleaning up whatever mess they make before my parents get home on Wednesday." Olette's parents were out at Oregon for some odd reason, seeing whatever sights there were to see up in Oregon.

"She's coming?!" Hayner asked, suddenly red in the face. Yep, he was definitely a giant pair of balls. "Shit. Shit. Shit." He raised his hand and sniffed under his own armpit, a movement that made Roxas turn away in disgust, and Olette as well. "I need deoderant," he murmured, and rushed up the stairs.

"Leave my dad's deoderant alone!" Olette shouted, and then began to rub her temples with her fingers. "Stressful. And he still owes me a new shirt."

The party was in three hours.

This is going to be interesting.

**Author's Note: Alrighty, so the next chapter is going to be the party! I've got a little bit of a surprise in store for it, but I can't say it or it won't be a surprise. :o But now Roxas has finally had his first real conversation with Axel! There's probably going to be major fluff in the next chapter, so be aware.**

**Oh, and I might get a little SolsticexHayner thing going on, too. xD It's just not a fanfiction for me if I don't have an OC.**

**Please review!**


	3. A Night to Remember

**Author's Note: Wow, lots of alerts and favorites now! I appreciate this, because my other Kingdom Hearts story is getting pretty much nothing. xD Thank you to my two reviewers so far, and I'm sorry for offending your state, Kabbage! x3 I'll leave a little hint of bashing towards my state in here, too, then. :**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Kingdom Hearts. Running out of clever ways to portray that concept. Dx**

**Chapter Two:**

**A Night to Remember**

_The bass_

_The rock_

_The mic_

_The treble_

_I like my coffee black_

_Just like my metal._

'Shut Me Up' by Mindless Self Indulgence

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"It's alright- what do you _smell_ like?" Olette asked Hayner, but her face contorted into rage. Roxas sighed; and it seemed like they had just made up, too. "Did you put on my dad's deoderant?! I _told_ you to leave that alone!"

"I stunk," Hayner shrugged, "and _girls_ are coming over, Olette. _Girls_."

Olette rubbed her temples again; she was definitely stressing. "If you could take three seconds to think about something other than getting laid, maybe I would actually be able to forgive you a little easier for throwing up on my shirt."

Roxas shook his head. Even though he had become extremely happy from finally meeting and talking to Axel, he had no more reason to be excited for the party. Not only was he not going to have to talk to any college kids to work on his social skills, but he was going to have to look after Hayner all night to make sure that he didn't get a girl pregnant or something else. Thankfully, he had come up with scenarios for spiking his drink with brandy. Again.

Finally, the doorbell rang. Pence got up and walked to the door coolly, but Olette practically pushed him down out of her nerves, and let them in. Immediately, the house began to flood with some people that Roxas hadn't met, and others that Roxas never thought he'd ever want to meet. It all happened so fast, that Roxas almost forgot to turn on the music.

Roxas lounged back in the couch, the loud music flooding his senses. He sipped on Miller Lite while he waited for more people to show up (knowing Olette, the whole damn school and more would be invited), but mostly for Solstice, because Hayner made Roxas promise that he would keep an eye out for her.

The night wasn't what Roxas expected, but Olette was definitely the life of the party. He had no idea, considering how badly Olette had been freaking out the last couple of days, that she could be so sociable with both college kids and kids from their school that Roxas would never bother talking to. Maybe he should have gone to Olette for advice instead of Hayner, who probably wanted to set him up with some college guy.

"Roxas," Olette said, finally getting a moment to go over to the couch that Roxas had been sitting at. She signaled over at some college kid, but his head was just a pink blur from where Roxas was sitting, or maybe his vision was already fucking up. "That guy's been looking at you all night."

"He has?" Roxas asked, not all that much interested. The only person that had been on his mind all night was Axel.

"Yeah, I think he's going to come talk to you soon." Olette, however, was dragged away by a couple of kids that Roxas recognized from his biology class. He didn't know if he was just all partied out from the last couple of days, but Roxas didn't feel much like getting up and doing anything at all. Still, he scanned the area and found what Hayner was looking for, or rather, who he was looking for.

"Hey, Hayner!" Roxas called out, finally seeing the girl walking through the crowd. She was hard to miss, being relatively tall for a girl, and her hair having more layers than anyone else he could notice in the room. Although it took the distracted Hayner a moment, he noticed his friend and ran over to him on the couch. "That who you're looking for?" Roxas asked, pointing forward to the girl.

Hayner beamed and looked back at his friend with excited brown eyes, "Thanks, dude!" He pushed off of Roxas's shoulder and ran up towards the girl.

_No, that wasn't subtle at all._ Roxas laughed, and then surveyed the two. Since Axel wasn't there, he might as well observe how two people in Straightland talked to each other for the first time ever.

Granted, Hayner probably wasn't the best example.

Although Roxas couldn't hear anything, he could definitely see. Hayner walked up to Solstice, cutting her off from the chips. Roxas never did taste them to see if they were good or not. Still, Hayner rested his elbow against the wall, trying to look cool. Solstice gave him a worried laugh and looked past his shoulder.

Hayner said a few words, and, at first, it seemed everything was going alright, but then Solstice began to frown, and put her hands on her hips. Hayner immediately seemed worried, and then started making crazy gestures, specifically at his chest area. Solstice immediately took her drink and splashed it at his face, and then shoved him out of the way to make it towards the chips. Roxas's laugh was a little louder than it should have been, but then again, he was on his third beer that night.

"How'd that work out for you?" Roxas asked his friend, who rolled his eyes when he walked up to them to sit next to Roxas.

"I just told her that her boobs were big. Is that bad?" Hayner asked, genuinely confused.

Roxas shook his head as if he was speaking to a child, and patted him on the shoulder. Yes, it was definitely easier being gay if it meant dealing with sensitive girls, but he wasn't about to brag about that to Hayner.

"You guys look bored," a man's voice came from behind them. Roxas twisted around where he was sitting; the man must have been in his early twenties, probably one of the college kids that Hayner had invited. His hair was freakishly long and pink, but he had some sort of air about him that made Roxas want to keep staring. "Mind if we join you?"

_We_? Roxas looked next to him; there was a girl. She was a little shorter than him with medium-short blond hair, two pieces of which were pointing upwards, almost looking like antennae. "Sure," Roxas said, his throat bubbling with alcohol. He was great at being social when a helper was involved- one of his downsides.

"Now what are two handsome kids like you doing sitting on your own?" the blond girl asked, a glimmer in her eye that told Roxas to just sink back into the couch and let Hayner handle his little story.

"Well, I was talking to that girl," he pointed over at Solstice, who was now talking to a college kid as if she knew him, which was very possible, because Axel was in college, "but then I said some stupid shit and she threw her drink on me."

The two college kids laughed, "She's kind of a tightass, but she's cool. She's my co-owner's stepsister. For the new bar, Axel's bar. My name's Larxene." She reached out to shake Hayner's hand.

"I'm Hayner."

"Roxas," Roxas said, but he extended his hand towards the pink-haired man.

"Marluxia." _Marluxia_. He even had a girly name. Not to mention, he was wearing only one earring, and it was that of a cherry blossom. It didn't seem to make much sense, but Roxas was full of caffeine and alcohol, and things like that didn't have to make sense.

_Right_, Roxas thought, _that's the pink blob that Olette pointed out. He's been looking at me?_ Roxas shook it off quickly, however; he wasn't going to let anything happen, not when the only person he's been able to think about for the past two days has been Axel. Now that he looked closer, he noticed that Marluxia and Larxene were exchanging odd glances.

"Roxas, come here, I want to show you something," Larxene said, and took him gently by the wrist to lead him out of the room. Roxas stood up and did not think much of it, she probably just wanted to show him some trick or something.

Even more oddly, Larxene brought him to a corner in the kitchen, out of view of mostly everything. Just as Roxas opened his mouth to speak, he felt a cold silver against his warm neck. Although it took him a moment to comprehend what was happening, he noticed that a small knife was to his neck.

"Marluxia and I know that you've been speaking to Axel," Larxene began, her voice threatening. Roxas swallowed; he never knew what to do in this kind of situation, and he wasn't acting any better now. His hands were trembling and he was sweating at his brow; all he could think of was that he was going to die. "Axel's mine. I know you're intentions, I can see them all over your face. Leave him alone."

Roxas didn't need her to say 'or else', because it was practically scribbled all over her face. Roxas wanted to nod to show that he comprehended it, even though he was trying to digest her words as she glowered at him. However, she believed that she got the point when she brought the knife back down to herself and stuffed it in her purse. "Oh, and another thing, not a word about this to Axel."

Roxas nodded, and Larxene walked away. He found himself in the corner of the kitchen, staring at the blue tile of the wall in front of him. That girl was _psychotic_. And how the hell could she see his intentions all over his face? Roxas didn't even know what his own intentions _were_. Why was Larxene...

And then finally, it all hit like a pile of bricks.

He had just been threatened to be _murdered_. By someone that was still in the house.

Roxas shook his head and ran out of the door to the kitchen, trying to shake off the feeling. That door led to the garage, in which Marluxia was standing and talking to Hayner. "Dude, what's wrong?" Roxas couldn't stay and tell him, not with Marluxia giving him the oddest (and scariest) smile he had ever seen. All he knew was that he had to get away from Marluxia and Larxene. He pushed Hayner out of the way by the shoulder, and bulleted down the driveway and onto the sidewalk.

By the time he was out of view of the rest of them, Roxas shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. It was freezing outside, snowing on him, and he wasn't wearing a jacket. He wasn't even sure where he was walking, but he did know two things: Olette would be worried and start looking for him, and he could not feel his arms anymore.

After a little while longer of walking, everything was numbed up. He found himself in front of Axel's Bar again, the lights from the windows piercing through the darkness, and the music booming through the silence. It was more of a club than anything, really, people were probably dancing their asses off in there.

Then, Roxas remembered why his legs had brought him there.

_"Any problems at the party, just come and hang out here."_

That was the last thing that Axel had said to Roxas, but Roxas didn't know if that was a joke or what. Roxas shook his head, about to continue walking. "What am I chasing after?" he mumbled to himself. "I don't even know if he..."

Roxas was interrupted when he felt an odd cloth on his shoulders. Looking down, he saw a long, black jacket draped around him, unzipped and way too big for him, but extremely warm. He looked behind him, just to find Axel, now wearing only a white cotton t-shirt, a tie and a pair of matching black pants. "I'd go in, anyway," Axel began, barely looking at Roxas. "At least it's warm in there."

Roxas looked over at the garbage cans by the corner- it figures that he would catch Axel right as he was taking out the garbage to his own bar. Still, Axel didn't look back as he walked forward to the bar, not until he made it to the door. Roxas smiled and took his first few steps forward, and eventually into the bar.

Axel was right; it was warm in there.

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**Meanwhile...**

"We should probably clean everything up soon," Pence decided aloud to Hayner and Olette. Still, over half of the guests were still lounging around, dancing to the music that Roxas had picked out, still looping. "Wait a minute. Where's Roxas?"

Hayner shook his head, a little wracked from his nerves. "I don't know. He just rushed off without a jacket or anything, after Larxene took him off some place. He seemed pretty freaked out." Hayner crossed his eyes in concentration and scratched the back of his head; what did Larxene _do_ to freak him hout so much?

"We should go and look for him," Olette said, worried, grabbing her keys from the rack.

"He'll probably be okay on his own," Hayner said.

"He'll freeze out there!" Olette argued.

"You have a point."

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"Tell me what happened," Axel told Roxas. They were sitting in the storage room to the bar, which Axel had transformed into his temporary bedroom for the next two weeks. Surrounding them were posters of bands that even Roxas didn't recognize, probably local, dark walls, and boxes and boxes of liquor. Sounded like a place that Hayner probably wouldn't mind living in.

Roxas opened his mouth to talk, but remembered LArxene's words exactly.

_"Oh, and another thing, not a word about this to Axel."_

"It's nothing, really," Roxas mumbled, looking at his feet. "people just got a little out of hand. A lot for Olette to clean out later." If he ever felt like mentally slapping himself, it was then. Roxas hated lying, but sometimes he had to commend himself on how good he was at it. It was a great skill for getting out of conversations you didn't want to be in.

Axel, obviously, wouldn't take it. He took his index and middle finger, put them under Roxas's chin, and tilted his head up so that he was looking straight at Axel. Axel looked at Roxas in a puzzled manner, as if his antifreeze eyes were looking straight through him. Obviously finding nothing, he let go. "You've got a cut on your throat."

Roxas's heart dropped to his stomach. He didn't even realize it until he brought his left hand up to his throat, and felt a small cut in the skin. It was not enough to bleed, but it must have been from when Larxene had put the knife to his neck. "Someone broke a bottle and the pieces flew everywhere." Roxas lied again. He bit his bottom lip until he tasted blood; he really didn't like lying to Axel like that.

Axel nodded. "Stay here as long as you need to, kid."

"Call me Roxas," Roxas told him, and Axel stood up.

He smiled down at him, "After that party, there's no way I'm selling you alcohol again, kid." he turned around to fix one of his posters that were falling down.

"Fair enough," Roxas responded, smiling.

"What's it like?" Axel asked, turning around to face him again, and sitting back down at the box across from him. The room was suddenly getting colder, Roxas noticed, but Axel seemed perfectly content, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"What's what like?" Roxas asked curiously.

"Living in Twilight Town." He paused. "Solstice and I moved here from Illinois. It's got good pizza and everything, but the whole state's pretty much flat and lifeless. Chicago's the only thing that makes it really worth it."

"Sounds better than here," Roxas muttered, "the only thing to do around here is go to the beach. Or, there's a great view from up on the clock tower. My friends go there every now and then just to watch the sunset."

"You're alright," Axel decided, smiling a little wider. Of course, that made Roxas's cheeks turn a fairly dark shade of red, and his gaze traveled back to his shoes. "You know, my shift's ending in a couple of minutes, not like I've actually been doing anything up in here, Saïx's got that taken care of. Do you want to-"

"Axel," a voice called that was both sweet and sickening to Roxas, like old maple syrup. Larxene just walked into the door, followed closely by Marluxia. Both of them were wearing their uniforms for the bar, and Roxas backed up- he didn't even realize that his face was within a half a foot of Axel's. "Our shift's about to start, and we need you to go kick Saïx out. Hello, Roxas." Larxene acknowledged him.

Just then, Solstice walked in, pushing Marluxia out of the way, looking extremely peeved. The first thing she did was look at Roxas and say, "Tell Hayner that the first chance I get, I'm getting a restraining order against him- _Oh_." Solstice smiled, obviously seeing what was going on between Axel and Roxas.

"Nothing h-"

"Roxas, you should go," Axel said, not taking his eyes off of Larxene and Marluxia. Larxene was looking smug, her arms crossed around her chest, smirking downwards at Roxas, followed by a sickening giggle. "There are less employees at the day shift, so I have to work up there."

Roxas would have killed to stay and talk to Axel more. They didn't have to touch, they didn't have to kiss, they didn't even have to look at each other. He just wanted to stay there and talk, but he didn't have to be told twice to leave. _I'm seventeen, he's twenty-one. It's not even legal. And Larxene would..._

Roxas nodded, and rushed out of the room fast.

"Roxas, wait!" Solstice screamed out. Roxas did not turn around, and Solstice looked at her stepbrother angrily. "You doofus, this one actually liked you."

When Roxas's burning face hit the cold outdoors again, he prepared himself for another long walk. After a few steps, however, the people who he knew would always be there for him pulled up to them in that familiar old Honda Hiccup. Olette rolled down the window and looked at Roxas worriedly. "Tell me everything."

**Author's Note: Well, this was definitely eventful, but sorry if my writing was kind of poor, most of it took place really late at night. xD I promise the next chapter will be better. But Larxene is threatening Roxas! Dx Ah well, please review!**


	4. Struggle

**Author's Note: Thanks again everybody, seriously, for reading and reviewing. The reviews keep me writing, honestly, I don't like writing if I know that nobody likes my story. xD And to answer BeastBoysBeauty, no, Larxene isn't that crazy. She's pretty effed up, but she's not killer girlfriend crazy. xD I just like giving some of my characters, well, character.**

**Axel won't show up until the tail end of the chapter, but I guarantee quite a bit of fluff when that happens. xD Please read and review!**

**Oh, P.S.- I've got a Heartless reference in here somewhere, see if you catch it. :3**

**Chapter Three:**

**Struggle**

_Made off, don't stray._

_Well, my kind's your kind;_

_I'll stay the same._

_Pack up, don't stray;_

_Oh say, say, say_

_Oh say, say, say._

_Wait._

_They don't love you like I love you._

'Maps' by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

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"Remind me again why we're going to be staying at _your_ house?" Olette asked, peeved as she turned a sharp corner onto the major street that Hayner's house branched off of. "Mine is bigger and we're all used to staying there." She desperately wanted to look backwards and glare at Hayner, but that was what caused her first accident.

"My parents are gone all Winter break. Your's'll be back in a couple of days. Plus, Roxas said that that psycho chick from the party threatened him. She won't be able to slit his throat if she doesn't know where he _is_, now, will she?" Hayner responded, raising an eyebrow. For once, his logic challenged Olette's.

Olette's grip on the wheel tightened in an obvious anger, but getting off of that topic, she went back to Roxas, who was sitting in the back seat with Hayner. Pence, however, was playing nervously with a button on his shirt; he didn't exactly like where Roxas's story was going. "Roxas, you never finished. What happened after you were talking to Axel?"

"After Axel?" Roxas asked. "Larxene, Marluxia and Solstice came back from the party. Right when I thought we were about to..." Roxas quieted down and shook his head fiercely, as if trying to shake the idea out of his head. "Pretty much, Larxene started dogging on Axel that they had to get back to work."

"Solstice was there?" Hayner asked excitedly.

"Will you let him _finish_?" Olette barked at Hayner. Olette wasn't really one to lose her temper, but after all the stress that Hayner had given her from her party and now, she didn't know what else to do.

Roxas sighed. "I guess Solstice was picking up on something, too. But Axel told me that I better go, so I did. I ran out. Axel tried to say something, but I kept going." Roxas paused. "Larxene saw me with Axel, so now I'm just freaked out about ever going to that bar again." He recalled faintly Axel telling him that he would never serve Roxas or his friends alcohol again. That made him snigger slightly.

"That's why you'll be safe at _my_ house," Hayner said proudly, looking at Olette through her rearview mirror.

"Yeah, except for me," Olette mumbled, "the only other rooms you have are your parents room, which is off-limits, and the room you share with your brother. I'm gonna have to sleep in the same room as you." Olette was never quite comfortable about their sleepovers once Hayner and Pence got on their tail-end of puberty.

"Then go upstairs and sleep with my brother, you know you want to." Hayner smirked at Olette.

"Hayner, give her a break," Pence said boredly, finally leaving the button his shirt alone.

"Yeah, give me a break." Olette echoed, and pulled up to their empty driveway. Empty of course, except for the Volkswagen Beatle that Hayner's brother, Tristan drove. Tristan was only a year older than Hayner, and had twice been admitted to a mental institution for stating (very persistently) that he saw small, black creatures with glowing yellow eyes crawling around the city. Hayner was pretty sure that he had a crush on Roxas, but _nobody_ could ever tell what that boy's sexuality was.

Roxas stumbled through Hayner's door, the first unholy step always making him trip. Hayner's house was much different than Olette's; rather than the beautiful, million dollar house she owned, Hayner's family owned a ranch of a house, only one floor and two bedrooms, but at least he had a huge, open field for a backyard. It didn't matter, though, where Roxas went; he never quite missed home, and his adoptive parents didn't care all that much where their son was. After all, they were a slight freak show; they adopted twelve other kids. He was usually lost in the sea, anyway.

"Home sweet home," Hayner said enthusiastically, dumping his bag of whatever it was that he brought to Olette's by the couch. The first thing that caught Roxas's attention was a giant, white Samoyed running up to him and sniffing his legs. Roxas wondered faintly if he still smelled like the bar; he didn't get any sleep last night, as the rest of the party lasted until about five in the morning and everyone was forced to clean up. Of course, Roxas put off telling them about what happened until their car ride to Hayner's, because he was afraid of Larxene or Marluxia having spies. "Hey, Lilac," Hayner said unenthusiastically to his dog.

"Aw, the one attractive animal in this house!" Olette said, getting on her knees. Lilac ran up to her, and she began to play with his ears.

"He's the only pet we've got," Hayner said, peeved.

"Humans are animals, too."

"Well I-- Hey, I'm attractive!" Hayner shouted, and Roxas rolled his eyes, setting his things down next to Pence's by the couch. "Anyway, I was thinking that we could go to the Usual Spot today, and maybe hang around the sandlot if Seifer isn't around."

Roxas's stomach churned. He had forgotten how easy it was the summer before. Seifer, Fuu, Rai and Vivi were his worst problems, his reputation. Well, Vivi was never much of a problem. He sort of just hung around Seifer. But this time, there was some psycho bitch on the loose because Roxas liked the wrong guy. "Sounds great," Roxas mumbled, scratching the back of his head through his honey colored hair.

"I'll buy the ice cream!" Pence said happily. **Author's Note: Of course you will. xD**

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Roxas had to admit, being stuck in a room with about fifty sweaty and drunk people did make fresh air seem ten times more worth it. All of them decided to go straight for the sandlot first; it wasn't like Seifer actually got in his way since Roxas won the Struggle tournament, but he was still bitter. "Larxene shouldn't find you here," Olette decided aloud when they turned the corner to the sandlot, "I doubt a twenty-something year old would hang out around places like this."

Roxas groaned, "Yeah, but apparently, seventeen year-olds would," he mumbled, looking forward at Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi, all of whom seemed to look back at Roxas, Hayner, Olette and Pence as if by whistle. Seifer crossed his arms and walked up to all of them, a smug look on his face.

"What's got you so worked up, Seifer?" Hayner asked, assuming his position as the leader of the group. "Finally learn how to Struggle?" Hayner knew Seifer's weak spots by then; not a smart idea to make fun of Seifer.

"You're funny, Hayner," Seifer said, without laughing, "you still hang around the fatty, the butch and the homo, I see."

Roxas's hands clenched into tight fists; he knew that he was no match against Larxene's knife, but knowing that he could strangle Seifer with no problem made him feel better, even if he often did use the big-and-dumb Rai as his personal bodyguard half of the time. It was no problem to him; Roxas always left the talking to Hayner.

Still, Roxas had a burning urge to comment that he saw hate sex coming, but he decided to keep his mouth shut.

"And you still hang out with the mute, the lug and the... what _is_ he?" Hayner asked, genuinely confused, referring to Vivi. Many of the times that his brother had complained of seeing small, black animals with yellow eyes, they thought that he was referring to Vivi.

Vivi shrugged. Apparently, he didn't even know.

"What? Have you guys come to challenge me to Struggle again?" Hayner asked, shortening them with his eyes. Fuu, Rai and Vivi all walked up behind him to back him up, althought it probably wasn't necessary. Sure, Seifer was average-height for his age, but his muscles and demeanor were intimidating enough. He turned to Roxas. "Or are you afraid you'll break a nail?"

Before Seifer knew what hit him, Hayner _did_ hit him with his already clenched fist. Seifer stumbled back a few feet, but Roxas knew that this wasn't nearly as hard as Hayner could have hit him. None of them were even sure of how Seifer knew about his orientation, or whether someone told him or if he sort of just figured it out like Olette had done. He never insulted Roxas to his face, however, so it was enough of a shock for Hayner to try and knock him out.

"...Fucker!" Seifer finished his chain of cusses as he rubbed his eye that Hayner punched. He walked up to Hayner, his chest close enough to his that if Hayner took a breath he would feel it, and glared down at ahim. "I'll leave you with a warning this time, but next time you cross me like that expect to wake up in a hospital."

"Seriously," Fuu said, her calm facade not once breaking.

"Seifer plays tough, y'know?" Rai threatened, pointing his fist right at Olette's face. Olette, however, knitted her eyebrows and shot Rai a glare of a thousand daggers, and he slowly lowered his fist, backing off.

Seifer, however, didn't feel like sticking around. As he walked past the group and Hayner began talking to Olette and Pence about what a jerk Seifer is, Seifer took Roxas by the collar and said to him, "Come here at midnight for a struggle rematch. Bring any of them and you automatically forfit." Before Roxas had a chance to decline, or even protest, Seifer, Rai, Fuu and Vivi were passing them up, walking down to the Tram Commons.

_Great_, Roxas thought, sighing, _I've got to come all the way down here at midnight just so I can beat Seifer in a struggle match again. I guess I could always skip out, but Seifer has that amazing freaking ability to find me when I'm not with the group._ Roxas shook his head; he may as well just go. It wasn't like he could lose to Seifer. It just meant a few extra bruises in the process, after all.

Except that he wanted to go down by the bar that night. After all, Axel would be there.

"Roxas, are you listening?" Pence asked, poking his friend in the shoulder. This made Roxas jump and shake his head apologetically.

"What?" Roxas muttered.

"I said that we should go skateboarding as long as we're out here. I could use the exercise, anyway." Pence paused and looked at the corner- of course, all four of their skateboards were sitting idly in the corner. They always left them there, day after day since they were fourteen years old, and nobody ever touched them. It may as well have been the eighth Wonder of Twilight Town- especially since Seifer had full access to them.

"Sounds good." Roxas said, running up to his skateboard. Maybe it would give him some time to clear his head. In moments, all of them were off on their boards. Hayner and Olette were in the lead- Hayner had some kind of instinct to lead the group in everything, but Olette was the better of the two at skateboarding, Roxas being the best out of all of them.

As they passed by Seifer on the other side of the Tram Commons, Hayner stopped dead in his tracks, causing Pence to collide with him. Roxas, however, was skating far enough behind to stop on time, and he finally noted what Hayner was looking at. They could even hear the two talking from that distance if they concentrated.

"You hung out with those guys?" Seifer asked Solstice, who was carrying some bags. She was probably doing more delivery work for Axel's bar- she was helping out over her winter break with the rest of them. She looked smarter than Seifer, however, as she was wearing a big coat with a fur-lined hood- Seifer was wearing a sleeveless shirt. Roxas always knew that he was missing something up there, but he seemed like he just got stupider the more he hung around Rai.

"Just for a night. Hayner was kind of a jerk, but he seems pretty cool to talk to. Why do you ask?" Solstice raised her eyebrow at Seifer.

"No reason," Seifer replied innocently, although Roxas saw through that one fast. "So, are you new here?"

Hayner, however fuming he was, was listening intently to their conversation. "I moved here a couple of days ago from Illinois with my stepbrother." Solstice responded, grinning. Hayner's hands clenched into fists. How could she be having a better time talking to Seifer- if anything, she should have been throwing her drink at _him_.

"You looking for someone to show you around?" Seifer asked, resting his elbow on Fuu, who was just the right height. However pissed Fuu might have been about this gesture, she kept it to herself as she always did, blowing a lock of silver hair out of her face.

"I've pretty much got the whole place memorized by now." Solstice responded, pushing a lock of brown hair behind her ear, "But thanks, anyway."

"Aha," Hayner whispered, grinning madly. Roxas rolled his eyes; he didn't understand what Hayner saw in her besides her _charming_ personality, but he wouldn't. Either way, Hayner never went after a girl for this long. With him, it was always one-night-stands or crazy girls falling over him. It was never the other way around.

"Do you know where my house is?" Seifer asked her.

Solstice shook her head. "That I don't know."

"Why don't I show you tonight?" Seifer asked, his grin turning slightly sickening.

Thankfully for Hayner, Solstice just laughed, shook her head and walked away. Although Hayner was smiling, Roxas was thinking something totally different.

"Oh yeah, she'll be easy." Roxas commented, flipping his skateboard back and riding off, expecting the others to follow him. Of course they did, but Roxas had other things on his mind. Like how much easier it was to like guys; they don't throw drinks at you, they don't PMS, and most of the time, considering the sexuality statistics of society, you didn't have to worry about them being hit on by other guys.

But there was always the occasional crazy blond girl with a knife.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Midnight," Roxas whispered to himself, trying not to wake up Hayner, Pence or Olette, all of which were sleeping in the living room. The television was full of snow, obviously none of them remembered to turn it off before they fell asleep- since they hadn't slept at all the night before, they were probably dead, but he still wanted to be sure not to wake up Tristan, Hayner's brother. He was always either awake or sleeping so lightly that a mouse scurrying across the floor _downstairs_ from his own could wake him up.

Then again, Tristan was full out crazy.

Carefully, he grabbed his special blue club from his bag and slipped on his shoes. He gingerly opened the door and stepped outside, kicking up his skateboard the second he got the chance. The sandlot really wasn't that far away, but the sooner he got there, beat Seifer, and got back, the better.

Plus, he was completely wiped from the day before. Meeting a dude you like in a bar twice and being threatened by a crazy bitch with a knife could take a lot out of you for one day.

When he finally reached the sandlot, there was nobody in sight. "What the...?" After all, Roxas had just left at midnight so he would purposely be a few minutes late, but that would make them even later than he was. Roxas huffed and kicked his skateboard back to the corner of the lot, and gripped his club. _Where are th-_

Suddenly, Roxas's arms were pulled behind him, and he felt a cloth around his wrists. "What the hell?!" Roxas shouted, but was quickly silenced by another cloth around his mouth. He began to freak out- _Oh my God, I'm being kidnapped. I'm going to be raped._ **Author's Note: My God, last chapter he was threatened for his life, this chapter he's being kidnapped- can you say walking disaster? xD**

Roxas would have worried more when he felt his club being ripped from his hands and himself being propped up by two strong hands, until he saw someone with a crazy bad black eye walk in front of him. It was just Seifer- what was he playing at? "Mmmf, mmffmm?" Roxas asked, although he meant to ask, "Seifer, what the hell?"

Seifer probably didn't understand this, but he seemed to have gotten the concept of the question. "Shush, we're using you to get to Hayner. Once he notices your gone and comes over here, we're going to use _him_ to get to Solstice."

"Bait," Fuu said, her one-worded humor making Rai, who was holding Roxas, laugh like a gorilla.

_All this for a girl? Another reason why I don't girls._ Roxas thought. He didn't bother to try speaking, not with the cloth tied- very uncomfortably- around his mouth. Roxas couldn't be there all night, not when the others didn't know that he was gone in the first place for something so stupid. Roxas began to sweat- what was he going to do?

However, he didn't have to answer. A sweetly familiar voice called from behind him, "Isn't it a little past your curfew?"

Rai swung around, and since he had Roxas by the arms he swung around with him. Axel was walking towards them with his hands in his pockets, grinning. "You must be Hayner. Solstice told me about you-" Axel paused to smirk, "and if I were you, I'd go home before big mean Axel called the cops."

Fuu seemed completely ready to stay where she was, but Vivi was cowering behind Seifer, who's bottom lip was quivering. Roxas could even feel Rai's hands shaking a little bit- Roxas had to admit, Axel was intimidating when he tried to be.

Apparently, Seifer had made his decision, because Rai let go of him and all four of them went darting down the other end of the sandlot, Vivi lagging behind quite a bit. Roxas, however, was left sitting down on the ground, still tied up by what looked like a few of Fuu's handkerchiefs.

Once again, Axel saved the day.

He sat down next to Roxas, laughing. "Seems like every time I find you, you're in some kind of trouble. First time, you can't find a good bag of chips. Second time, your friend picked the wrong brandy. Third time, your party got... _out of hand_," Axel continued, as if not really believing it, "And now, you're being kidnapped by the same guy that tried to get in my stepsister's pants earlier. Should I be worried?"

Roxas was probably blushing out of embarrassment, but he couldn't tell or feel any heat rise to his cheeks, because all of his blood was being cut off as the bandanas cut off his circulation on his wrists and face. "Mmf." Roxas responded.

Axel, however, only chuckled. "You know," he started, looking at Roxas in his cobalt eyes, his own bright green ones intimidating him, "I could leave you tied up like this." Axel brought his hand up and put it to Roxas's face, possibly feeling the gallons that Roxas was sweating at that very moment.

Roxas contemplated for a moment. _Right _now_? _he thought, _In the middle of the sandlot? He wouldn't._

"But I'm a better person than that." Where Axel's hand already rested on Roxas's face, it traveled back behind his head to his honey hair and untied the bandana skillfully. After that, he moved to get behind Roxas and untie the bandana there, too.

"Thanks," Roxas said, although he was slightly flushed from what he had been thinking, "they challenged me to a struggle here at midnight, but instead they tied me up." Roxas made a disgusted face- he could still taste the bandana in his mouth.

"So, you either keep getting yourself into trouble through bad judgement, or," Axel paused, looking forward now to the blank wall of the sandlot courtyard, "everyone just wants to be around you."

Roxas smiled, and looked down at his shoes. "Probably the former," he muttered. Roxas could never remember a time that people actually wanted to be arond him; _he_ was the one that hung around Hayner, Pence and Olette, _he_ was the one that decided to go to these ridiculous parties, and _he_ was the one that wouldn't leave Axel alone.

Until tonight, where Axel found _him_.

"I'd say the latter," Axel grinned at him.

Roxas's smile turned into shock, and his cheeks a bright red. He looked up at the redhead, who's lips were slightly parted as if he wanted to say something, but then they closed again. He closed his eyes and smiled, shaking his head, before he looked up at the sky above them. That town was always so full of lights, so Roxas wasn't used to the stars being as crisp and bright as they were then.

"Do you like being around me?"

Roxas surprised himself with his forwardness, and almost wanted to dart out of the sandlot as fast as Seifer did, but _nobody_ could run that fast. Axel seemed pretty shocked, as well; out of the two of them, he was the one that did most of the talking. He wasn't too shocked however, to answer him. It was a belated response, but it was something.

"Yeah, kid, I like being around you."

Suddenly fuming, Roxas stood up so he could be taller than the sitting Axel. "My name's _Roxas_. R-o-x-a-s. Not kid." The redness in his cheeks only grew as his fists tightened; he'd been called kid before by a lot of people, even his own parents, but why did he dislike being called kid by Axel?

Probably because he _liked_ Axel, and the one thing getting in the way of that was age- a 21 year-old couldn't legally be with a seventeen year old.

"Fine," Axel said, standing up, his face equally serious. Roxas ran out of ways to seem older, now- Axel was agreeing to everything he was saying and, most of all, he was once again taller than him. Roxas could predict that every time he tried to seem older than Axel, Axel would beat him out.

However, he could have never predicted what Axel did next.

Axel dipped his head down and matched Roxas's height. Although his antifreeze orbs were closed by his eyelids, Roxas's ocean blue ones stayed wide open as he felt Axel's lips brush against his slightly parted ones.

It was so quick, but never before that had Roxas felt a kiss quite like Axel's. It was like electricity running down his body, sending shock waves down to the very tips of his fingers. Roxas knew the effects of alcohol and tens of different drugs, and if it was getting drunk or high versus a kiss from Axel, he knew which one had the better effects.

Another thing Roxas knew was that it was over too quickly.

When Axel pulled away, he was smirking smugly and looked down at his watch. "I should get back to the bar, my break'll be over soon." He turned on his heel, and walked down the same exit that Seifer, Rai, Fuu and Vivi ran down. "See ya, kid."

_Kid_ again.

But Roxas was in no position to complain. Still, he stood there like an idiot with his mouth half open, not moving from the spot where Axel had just _kissed_ him. He wanted to memorize the spot, to engrave their names on the ground, but instead, he backed up slowly before turning around to get to his skateboard and go back home.

It looked like Roxas was in for another sleepless night.

**Author's Note: Well, there ya go. xD It's about time some of the fluff kicks in, and I'm expecting to bring a little bit more of Larxene in for the next chapter, so expect some more crappy luck in Roxas's world. x3 Please review!**


	5. Crazy

**Author's Note: Sorry this chapter sort of sucks, there's not a lot of Axel and Roxas. I promise a crap of a lot next chapter, though. xD Oh, and one of my reviewers brought up a good point, of how if Larxene is Axel's cousin, that would be incest. So, keep in mind that I wrote these chapters all late at night, and I meant to make her his second cousin. xD I went back and changed it, but just so you know. And thank you for bringing that up. x3**

**Oh and, yes, Rai annoyed the living crap out of me. xD ya'knowya'knowya'know... Dx**

**Please review again everyone! I'm so demanding. x3**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters, they wouldn't be on fanfiction, would they? xD**

**Chapter Four:**

**Crazy**

_I feel so untouched_

_And I want you so much_

_That I just can't resist you._

_It's not enough to say that I miss you._

_I feel so untouched right now_

_Need you so much somehow_

_I can't forget you._

_I've gone crazy from the moment I met you._

'Untouched' by The Veronicas

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It was late the next day that Roxas was shaken awake by Hayner. By some miracle, he had managed to fall asleep when he returned home on his skateboard. He wanted to stay up and remember that moment all night, but there was a certain point in everyone's life where the fatigue of the body outweighed the joy of the mind.

"Wh..What?!" Roxas asked, shaking his head violently, though Hayner kept throttling him in an earnest attempt to keep him up. "What is it, retard? I'm trying to sleep," he groaned, shoving his head under the pillow. Still, the moment his consciousness came back to him, Roxas remembered early that morning, about a quarter past midnight.

The _kiss_.

His eyes shot open, and he brought his right forefinger and middle finger to his lips. It still felt intense, it still felt _electric_. No, it wasn't electricity, he felt like his lips were burning up at the slight memory of it. It was _fire_.

Hayner backed off and crossed his arms. Roxas knew this because he lifted his pillow slightly so one, now widely opened, cerulean eye was boring a hole in Hayner's forehead. Roxas was not the kind of person to be woken up when he was still tired, and Hayner of all people should have known that. "I guess you're not going to tell us where you were last night."

Roxas froze. How did they know that he was gone? Still, finding a loophole, he smiled. "Last night? I was lying awake here." Roxas was never much of a liar; he would lie just as much as the next person, but to most people, it was obvious when he was. Like when he had lied to Axel about Larxene; technically, though, he wasn't lying. The party was sort of crazy. He just didn't bring up Larxene.

"How about yesterday morning?" Olette asked, her voice slightly hoarse. She was still in a tank top and pajama bottoms, but she seemed the most awake out of all of them. Apparently, the long night's sleep did her some good, because she was no longer tense from the party. In fact, she seemed back to her smart, cheery and resourceful self.

Roxas groaned, and his his head under the pillow again. "I went out to Struggle with Seifer." Then, Roxas laughed slightly as he heard his friends around him gasp in a sharp intake of air; Seifer was probably still sporting that black eye that Hayner gave him.

"What? Did you win?" Pence asked excitedly. He was the only one of them that was clothed and up, but he was carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other; obviously, he wasn't the most awake of the three.

He shook his head in response and took the pillow off of it, sitting up on the floor where everyone was surrounding him. He saw Hayner looking a little disappointed, but then Roxas elaborated, "He didn't even really want to Struggle. The second I got there, they tied up my wrists and my mouth." Roxas rubbed his wrist where he remembered the cloth had been cutting into it; not the most pleasant feeling.

"That bastard," Hayner mumbled, "but, _why_?"

"He wanted you guys to notice I was gone and then it would kind of reel you in, and then they would have taken Hayner to get to Solstice." Roxas shook his head. "They have a really fucked up thought process."

"Wait," Hayner said, putting a hand to his chin, "that would mean that, sometime during their talk, Solstice brought me up!" Hayner's face suddenly lit up, "Maybe she mentioned that she _liked_ me! And that's why Seifer wanted to use _me_ to get to _her_!" Hayner suddenly burst out in a laugh that made Pence spill a little bit of his coffee, "She likes me! She _likes_ me!"

"I think you're reading a little far into it," Pence said softly as he walked to the other side of the living room to get a towel and soak up the coffee that Hayner made him spill, "maybe he just saw you watching them talk and guessed that you two were friends or something."

"You're a killjoy." Hayner said, crossing his arms again.

"How'd you escape? I mean, Rai's pretty tough, but I just sneered at him once and he backed off." Olette asked, who was obviously a little more intent about the story rather than 'whether or not Solstice likes Hayner'.

"That's the best part," Roxas said, giving them the first genuine smile that they had seen out of him in days, "Axel was on his break and he went for a walk in the sandlot. He chased them off and got me out."

"Aw, like a Prince Charming!" Olette fawned, gripping the pillow that Roxas had been clutching over his head only a moment before.

"Okay ladies, the point is, now we have to get Seifer back," Hayner said, bent on revenge as always. He pulled on his Nike shirt, as he never wore a shirt to bed. As he changed into his jeans, he continued, "We could get him into a _real_ Struggle and beat his ass so bad that he won't be able to sit down for a year."

"Or we could accuse him of stealing and get the whole town to hate him, including Solstice," Pence suggested, joining in on the brainstorming right before he took another sip of his snowy white coffee. **Author's Note: Of course, that's a Kingdom Hearts II early plotline reference. x3**

"Too light," Hayner said, shaking his head, "We need something that's going to hit him right here," he announced, punching himself where his heart is located.

Even Olette who was probably disapproving of the whole idea in her head, was nodding; she was probably sick of fighting with Hayner, but it never changed the fact that he still owed her a new shirt. "But we have to be sneaky about it so Seifer doesn't know that it was us until the very end," Olette pointed out.

Roxas, however, was just listening intently up to that point, until a brilliant idea struck him. "Tomorrow's Christmas Eve," he pointed out, "and there's that festival in the Tram Commons." As if everyone began to read his mind, they started to shout things out.

"We could make him stand under the mistletoe with that old lady in the Candy Shop," Olette suggested, now leaning forward in excitement.

"We could put a banana peel in front of him and have him trip into the giant Christmas Tree, knocking everything down with it," Pence said, after finishing the last bite of his doughnut, and suddenly looking more awake.

"And a lot of other things," Hayner said, suddenly agreeing to everything that Olette and Pence had been suggesting, "and we'll make sure that Solstice is around to see him every time. And then, she'll be sure to want me."

"I thought this was about revenge on Seifer for trying to kidnap Roxas, not trying to make him look bad to make Solstice like you," Olette started, crossing her arms. She was definitely more mellow than she usually was, but that didn't change her from being the only real, clear thinking one of the group in that moment. Even Roxas, who wasn't even really participating, was laughing along with the rest of them.

"Killing two birds with one stone," Hayner said, finally pulling his jeans up the rest of the way. They all seemed to be comfortable with getting changed in front of one another, no matter the sexuality; it just stopped meaning anything once you've been friends for so long. **Author's Note: Or once you've been in Marching Band for at least a year.**

"Speaking of Christmas Eve," Olette began as she changed into her favorite orange shirt and yellow capris, "we all still have to do Christmas shopping today. Wanna go in groups or split off into pairs like we did last year?" Olette asked.

"Let's do pairs," Hayner suggested. They had all gone off the day before last Christmas Eve in pairs so there was less chance of somebody from the group seeing the gift that they got them.

"I'll go with Hayner," Pence said a little quickly, walking over to his side. Olette gave him a look; she often dragged Pence everywhere to get the shopping done (except for her party, of course, where she dragged everybody), but there was only so much of Shopping With Olette that one guy could take.

"Fine, I'll go with Roxas. And we can talk more about him and Axel!" Olette said giddily, grabbing her keys to the Hiccup from the hook. Roxas didn't seem to mind that at all; after all, Axel was the only subject on his mind those days.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Where to first?" Olette asked Roxas once Hayner and Pence had started on the other side of the Tram Commons. It was so difficult to buy for Hayner, but Pence would probably be satisfied with a gift card to the candy store.

"Let's just go to Sears," Roxas decided as they walked in front of it. "We're probably going to be stuck getting Hayner clothes." He laughed, pulling an earbud out of his ear. Since that morning, Roxas had obviously been about a thousand times cheerier. Even his music was staying on the lighter side that day.

As they walked into Sears, however, that dissipated.

Roxas could see, from a safe distance, Marluxia and Larxene going through the men's clothes. Yeah, they picked a perfect day to do their Christmas shopping. "Roxas, what are you doing?" Olette asked, noticing Roxas was frozen where he stood, watching the two from the party. "My God," she started, seeing what he was looking at, "Is that the girl that threatened you?"

"Yeah." Roxas gulped something he didn't realize was building up in his throat.

"Am I not supposed to know?" Olette asked nervously.

Roxas shook his head. "Not technically. She just said that if I say something to Axel, then... you know." Roxas turned off his mp3 player and shoved it back in his pocket, intent on listening to everything they were saying.

"I swear, he's falling for that little brat," Larxene said to Marluxia angrily, flipping through yet another ten shirts, "when he came back from his break this morning, he said that he saw Roxas on his way."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Marluxia said nonchalantly, not actually looking at anything that Larxene was flipping through. Roxas was sure that Marluxia was just as sadistic as Larxene, but he didn't seem as up to anything during the day; on the contrary, he looked as if he was losing sleep. "He's, what, fourteen?"

"Seventeen," Roxas grumbled, but Olette, who was also listening to the conversation, elbowed him in the side and shushed him.

"He could be twelve for all Axel cares, he'll hit on anything that breathes," Larxene said, probably exaggerating a tad, but that wasn't what Roxas was focused on. Why was he even spying on them in the first place? They had to wait to go up and look through there, anyway, because Larxene would probably destroy them with an AK47 if they even got close with the mood that she was in.

"Point taken," Marluxia responded lazily, and then he changed the subject, "You still have his new phone number? You could just call him and ask him what he wants."

"Yeah, it's in my back pocket," Larxene responded, and then literally pulled out a leather vest, gagged dryly, and threw it behind her.

Marluxia sighed, "You know you're not going to find anything for him in here. We probably don't even have to call him. He only likes three things," the next sentence, Larxene joined in, their voices perfectly chorused, "CDs, lighters, and alcohol."

"Let's go, I'll get him a CD," Larxene muttered, turning on her heel, walking to where Olette and Roxas were.

"Shit!" Olette whispered, biting her nails. Before Roxas could tell her to stay quiet, she pushed him into a rack of clothes, and Roxas stayed safely hidden between a bunch of overalls on the rack. _Overalls_.

Suddenly, Larxene stopped in front of Olette, raising an eyebrow. "You're that kid who had that party a couple of days ago, right?" Larxene asked Olette sweetly.

Even more surprising than Larxene's talking to Olette was how Olette spoke back to her. "Yeah, I remember, Hayner invited you!" Olette responded, smiling up at the older girl sweetly. "Did you guys have fun?"

Larxene looked at Marluxia, who was also grinning with something a little sour. "Of course," they both responded.

"I'll have to invite you next time, then," Olette smiled, and they both hugged each other. Roxas could not contain his fury, and the moment that Larxene and Marluxia walked away, he almost exploded out of the rack of overalls and walked up to Olette, who was holding a piece of paper in her hands.

"What was that about?" Roxas asked.

"She had Axel's number in her back pocket," Olette said, grinning and waving a piece of paper with seven digits separated by dashes on it. Roxas smiled back at Olette, his anger suddenly vanished, and a newfound respect for Olette blooming.

"Even better," Roxas said, "Axel only likes CDs, lighters, and alcohol. Since he won't let me get him any of the alcohol and Larxene's getting him a CD, I know what to get him."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Later...**

Everything was going almost too well. Roxas and Olette had both bought Hayner some odd clothes at Sears, and at that point, they had split up for 'only ten minutes' to go buy the gifts for themselves. Roxas had found a Spencer's nearby, but he didn't see where Olette was walking. **Author's Note: A Sears and a Spencer's in Twilight Town. Wow, way to turn Twilight Town into a mall, Lesser. xD**

"Perfect," Roxas whispered to himself as he picked out a lighter. It was jet black and shining, but right in the center was a jeweled ball of flame, closely resembling the shape of a heart. As he walked up to the store employee to buy it, a sharp voice rang through his insides, freezing Roxas where he stood.

"Roxas," Larxene's sugary sweet voice came. She was looking as threatening as ever, somehow with a huge grin on her face, carrying a bag of presents, Axel's CD probably in there. Roxas wanted to assume that she had picked out a bad band, but that was just because he was feeling hatred for Larxene.

Still, he smiled.

Axel kissed _him_. He was _invincible_.

"You haven't forgotten our little understanding, have you, Roxy? Can I call you Roxy?" Larxene asked, her hand traveling to the pocket of her jean skirt where Roxas saw a suspicious lump, probably carrying her knife. **Author's Note: That's just a scary thought, Larxene in a jean skirt. kfejfaIEJsa.**

"No, I haven't," Roxas responded, and again, he wasn't technically lying.

"Good," Larxene said, though Marluxia's constant yawning behind her was really destroying her fear factor, "because if you did, I was thinking I could give you a little reminder, but I don't think either of us wants that, now do we R-"

"I don't think he likes being called Roxy," Axel's voice rung through the air like a wolf call in the mountain, beautifully neutralizing the sugary sweet molasses of Larxene's. Of course, her head twisted to look at Axel, a sweetened look on her face as she flipped her blond hair to the other side of her shoulder. "Agreement?" Axel asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. Roxas checked the gift he got him- safely inside the bag where he couldn't see it.

"About not having a party without inviting me," Larxene replied evenly, "because the last one was _so_ fun." She even managed to throw a convincing, almost friendly smile Roxas's direction. Roxas, however, frowned at how well Larxene could lie, considering how badly he sucked at it.

"Is that true, Roxas?" Axel asked him, looking down.

Roxas didn't know how he managed it, but he said nothing, even after looking into those beautiful green eyes.

Axel, however, got the point.

He chuckled lowly and asked Roxas next, "You're going to the Christmas Eve festival tomorrow, right, kid?" Axel asked, and Roxas nodded slowly, not succeeding in hiding the stupid smile that spread across his face. Axel chuckled a little bit, and said, "Then I'll see you there," Again, he brought his head down to Roxas, and his lips brushed against Roxas's cheek, causing the heat to rise there once again.

Roxas's legs could have turned to jelly just as fast as they had threatened that morning, but he managed to stay standing. "I'll see you there, kid," he said, and turned on his heel once more, leaving Roxas where he stood, unable to say anything.

A kiss from Axel on the cheek was definitely _not_ a step down from a kiss on the lips. If anything, it was even more electric, even more fiery than when he felt it on his lips. He wanted to know what it felt like everywhere else, and he wanted to know if Axel felt that same fire, but first, he had to deal with the fuming Larxene the second Axel left the area. Even Marluxia seemed a little surprised.

Axel's first mistake in Roxas's book: leaving Roxas alone with Larxene after he _kissed_ him. Right in front of her.

Without even thinking, Roxas sprinted out of the store. He almost didn't expect Larxene to be following him, but she wasn't even followed by Marluxia, who didn't seem to be all that interested in helping Larxene out during the daytime. Larxene must have been on the track team or something, but she was damn fast.

"Roxas!" Olette said as Roxas turned the corner, pulled over by her. "What are you running from--?"

"Olette, just fucking run!" Roxas commanded her, grabbing her wrist and continuing on his way. Larxene didn't know where the Usual Spot was, as it was far down an alley. She wouldn't know to look that far down, if they could only _lose_ her!

"Wha-?" Olette wrenched her wrist away although she continued running with Roxas, and looked behind her, "Oh, crap!" she stated in an upset tone, trying not to let her bags fly all over the place. "Why are we...?"

"She saw me with Axel. _Faster_, Olette!" Roxas commanded her, surprising himself with how much he sounded like Hayner at that moment, so demanding and leader-like, obviously surprising Olette in the process.

Finally, Roxas turned a corner before Larxene got there, and turned another one into one of the alleys that branched off of the Tram Commons. Roxas and Olette stayed silent at least for a minute and a half before Roxas poked his head out of the alley, and Larxene was gone. "I'm toast..." Roxas muttered as they walked further down the alley until they made it to The Usual Spot, shaking his head.

"Well, she doesn't know where Hayner's house is," Olette mentioned brightly.

"Who doesn't?" Pence asked, licking a Sea Salt Ice Cream as he tossed Roxas and Olette each one of their own. Hayner was practically destroying his; he was never really good with shopping; it took a lot of energy out of him.

"Larxene. She saw Roxas with Axel." Olette said.

"And I'm going to see Axel tomorrow at the Christmas Eve festival," Roxas said, gasping for breath as he took his seat right next to Olette in The Usual Spot, and hastily unwrapped his ice cream. Something made him wish that Twilight Town winters were colder.

"And I'm going to see Solstice," Hayner said, waving a slip of paper that looked like a number, similar to the one that Axel had.

Olette looked at Axel's number before handing it to Roxas, "That's not the same as the number that we stole from Larxene earlier, don't they live together? They are stepbrother and stepsister," Olette asked.

Roxas walked over to Hayner and looked at Solstice's number. She dotted her 'i's with squares. "Hayner," Roxas started.

"Yeah?" Hayner asked back.

"Something tells me that 1-847-GO2-HELL is out of service."

**Author's Note: Okay, so a little comical ingenius right there. xD Sorry this chapter wasn't all that amazing, but expect lots in the next chapter. I might combine Christmas Eve and Christmas into the same chapter to make up for this one's suckishness, but we'll see.**

**Please review!**


	6. Shaking

**Author's Note: Okay guys, I promised a more fluff this chapter, and fluff I shall give. But the next chapter, the Christmas chapter, **_**that's**_** going to be a breeding ground for fluff. Thank you everyone for all the views/reviews, it's already pretty much doubled my other fanfiction, which is about four times as long as this one. xD I love you guys. :D**

**So, review again. xD I mean, please. Of course.**

**My disclaimer will be done by the KH characters.**

**Roxas: Uhm. Uh. Lesser... Yeah.**

**Hayner: Oh God. Lesser doesn't own us. She does own Solstice.**

**Olette: Hey, **_**Roxas**_** was supposed to do it!**

**Hayner: Then what can I do?**

**Olette: Buy me a new shirt.**

**Chapter Five:**

**Shaking**

_I wanna break every clock_

_The hands of time could never move again._

_We could stay in this moment_

_For the rest of our lives._

_Is it over now, hey, hey is it over now?_

_I wanna be your last, first kiss_

_That you'll ever have._

_I wanna be your last, first kiss._

'Inevitable' by Anberlin

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It was Christmas Eve morning. Roxas was up early for once, staring at the little slip of paper that Olette had stolen from Larxene for him. After a while, the numbers all began to mesh together as he laid on the floor staring up at them. _I know I want to see Axel today_, Roxas thought, _but how is that going to be possible with Larxene there?_

Next, Roxas glanced over at the pile of poorly wrapped presents that he had wrapped for everyone the night before. Olette's presents didn't look all that amazing either, ditto for Hayner, but Pence's were perfectly wrapped. Pence was amazing with computers and the culinary arts, but it was times like those that would surprise Roxas.

He glanced back over at the small present, wrapped in red wrapping paper with a silver ribbon. Actually, it was more of a ball of paper less-than-skillfully wrapped around the box that held Axel's lighter. "Was it worth it?" Roxas asked himself offhandedly. Did Axel even expect Roxas to get him a gift?

"Okay, sleepy heads, wake up," Hayner called to the other three, weaving past the couches and sleeping bag on the floor, "Rise and shine, it's morning." When Olette and Pence had sleepily turned their attention to Hayner, and Roxas just rolled over, already wide awake, Hayner finished, "We have to get to the festival early today so we can go _embarrass_ Seifer in front of Solstice."

"And _get revenge for Roxas_," Olette completed, a little pissed that Hayner still thought that their plan was all about him, but really too tired to accurately show it. Obviously, she had lost sleep over the whole Larxene deal as well. She turned to Roxas. "And we're going to have to stick around him, because he has to stick around Axel."

"What?" Hayner asked, "Why?"

"Because Larxene won't do anything crazy around Axel, remember, she likes him. If Roxas stays around Axel, then he'll be mostly protected. If we're around him, he'll be doubly protected." Olette paused. "Get it?"

Roxas was both inwardly thankful and swearing at this. At one hand, he got protection, which was always a plus, but on another, he was going to be followed by his three friends, not even sure if Axel would like any of them. He would just have to take that risk, he thought as he began to change.

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The Tram Commons had made a transformation that nobody thought possible. It went from looking like a simple train route of a commons to a real Christmas festival; actually, it looked like Santa ate too many cookies and barfed 'Christmas' all over the place. Hayner was having a great time as he, Olette, Pence and Roxas sat at the edge of one of the low building roofs, watching Seifer have to kiss an old lady under the mistletoe.

"This place is heaven," Hayner finally decided after Seifer walked out to go disinfect his mouth. Leave it to him to be stupid enough to walk under the mistletoe with an old lady for following a dollar on a string. Even Rai wasn't that stupid. "But, it just doesn't feel like enough," Hayner admitted.

"What are you going to do now?" Olette whispered, "Throw snow at him? I don't think there's much else to do."

"That works."

Before Olette could tell him that the suggestion was a joke, Hayner gathered up some snow sitting next to him on the roof, created a snowball, and used his pitching arm from seventh grade baseball to throw it straight at Seifer's head.

Of course, Hayner was never a really good pitcher. Instead, the snowball hit Seifer in the chest, causing him to recoil back into the old lady and knock her into the ground. Much to Hayner's dismay, even though he was laughing his ass off just as much as his other friends were, was that Solstice had seen it.

"Seifer!" Solstice shouted a little worried, and bent down to help pull him up by his arm. Hayner, however, was just staring at them from the roof of the building with his jaw dropping. "Seifer, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm better now," Seifer said, putting on a sickeningly sweet expression for Solstice. **Author's Note: How's that for an alliteration? **"except, it hurts here," he said, pointing to his lips, "Fix it?"

"Somehow I don't think that you fell on your lips." Solstice said, but still trying to be nice about it as she managed to pull Seifer up to his full height. As he looked up to Hayner, his expression like that of a maddened bulldog, Solstice immitated him. "Hayner, did you do this?" she asked, a little annoyed.

"But, he-" Hayner paused, "Two nights ago, he and Roxas-" he paused again, "We needed to-"

"Here, let me bring you to my room at the bar." Solstice comforted him, not letting go of his arm, "It looks like you twisted your ankle. We've got a first aid kit there." As the two of them walked away, Seifer looked back at Hayner with a malicious grin on his face, and then back at Solstice.

Hayner, however, was still sitting where he was when he threw the snowball, ten feet above everyone else and close to the old woman who was mumbling about 'such a rude young man' with his jaw dropped. "And I thought I had bad social skills," Roxas murmured, pushing himself off of the roof and ending with a not-so-graceful landing on the ground.

"Look," Pence whispered down to him, "Larxene," he pointed, "and she's walking away from that guy with the red hair. That's Axel, right?" He paused as everyone looked forward, "Maybe she got angry at Axel and won't walk with him. Why isn't she walking with him?" Pence asked, both worried and hopeful

"Pence..." Roxas murmured, paying closer attention, "she's going to the bathroom. That's sort of a one person thing."

"I'll help you, then," Pence said, "I haven't done anything to help," he admitted, pushing himself off of the edge of the small roof. He landed with a slight amount of more grace, and ran up to Larxene, just before she made it to the port-o-potty.

"A distraction?" Roxas asked himself.

"You're wasting precious time!" Olette said, kicking his back lightly with her multicolored left shoe, "Go walk with Axel!"

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"Excuse me," Pence started, walking up to Larxene. She had never met him at the party, so he should have been safe, at least he hoped so. "Miss," he added, hoping to sound a little more professional. "I'm conducting a survey for school and I was hoping you would be a willing participant."

Larxene raised an eyebrow and brought her hand back to smooth down her two antennae locks of hair, which just came straight back up, as always. "Uhm, are you in high school?" Larxene asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Because you know it's winter break for the high school right now."

"It's... Winter School. Like Summer School, but for winter. Please?" Pence asked, putting on the most innocent smile he could conjour up, "It's worth seventy-five percent of my grade, and if I don't get at least a B in Winter School my dad sticks my hand in a cup of H2SO4 and it really hurts. Please?" he asked, once more.

"H2SO4?" Larxene asked, baffled. Apparently she wasn't a Chemistry major.

"Sulfuric acid," elaborated Pence.

Larxene looked at her wrist and her watch, perturbed, but obviously feeling the slightest amount of pain for this boy. "Fine," she said, "but make it quick. What's the first question in your... survey... that counts for over half of your grade?"

"If you had a pet Walrus, what would you name it?"

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"Axel," Roxas started, running up to the man. He turned around, his breath making little white clouds in the cold air. It had already been hours since the festival started, and Roxas was only happy that he even got to catch _up_ to Axel. The sun was setting before them creating a beautiful twilight, the point in time that the town was famous for, and causing the snow to tint a certain shade of pink.

"Hey, kid," Axel said, smiling as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm waiting for Larxene to be done at the bathroom, but it looks like she was flagged down by some kid before she got in..."

"Will you walk with me?" Roxas blurted out, not very romantically or well-timed, but it must have done some good because he managed to get a cheery laugh out of Axel, who shoved his cold hands into his long, black coat. **Author's Note: Think Organization XIII, but a little more casual. xD**

"Why not?" Axel asked nobody in particular, his gaze returning forward. "Those three aren't giving you anymore trouble?" Axel asked, cracking his knuckles on his left hand. Axel had only threatened them with the police last time, but Roxas always noted how strong Axel looked; he could probably knock them down in seconds flat.

"Seifer, Rai and Fuu?" Roxas asked, leaving out Vivi. He never had much to do with it, anyway. "Yeah. Except Hayner made him fall on an old lady just a few minutes ago and he got hurt, so Solstice started acting all motherly and helping him up." Again, Roxas felt something hit his stomach. Just moments ago he had been searching through his brain for the right words to use to talk to Axel, but Axel just had to say two measley sentences, and Roxas was _comfortable_. Comfortable enough to say a sentence at the right time.

"That's Solstice for you," Axel shook his head, laughing a little bit. "She'll be fumed about something for days on end, but if someone's hurt or in trouble that all clouds over."

Roxas laughed, breathing hot air onto his cold hands. "Sounds like Olette," Roxas remarked, afterwards breathing into his hands again. "She's still upset that Hayner got drunk and threw up on her shirt."

Axel shook his head at the mention of this. "Why do you guys fuck yourselves up so bad?" Axel asked, taking Roxas by surprise, whose cheeks had suddenly become red from the blood rushing up to them in embarrassment.

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked, stuttering now.

Axel stopped in front of the candy shop and looked at Roxas long and hard for a moment, until he finally decided to continue. "Alcohol, parties, and drugs. You guys are teenagers, you're not even allowed with that stuff yet. I mean, why don't you just be kids?" Axel asked, and his green eyes were almost _pleading_.

Roxas was rendered speechless for a moment, unable to dig up an answer. He _didn't_ know why he drank alcohol, went to parties and did drugs. When he was drunk, he was sociable. He could actually talk to people. Parties had people. Drugs were never really Roxas's thing, but they helped his friends, too. Did he really become relient on all of that? "Why do you care?" Roxas finally asked, but then mentally slapped himself.

Of course, when he couldn't be sociable, he was an ass. It was basic Roxasometry.

Axel tilted his head a bit to the left, as if debating whether or not to tell Roxas. Finally, he took out a lighter from his pocket. A silver one with orange stripes going down it, and he randomly began to ignite the flame and then put it out. He did this as he explained to Roxas, "I was born when my mom was only seventeen years old. That's like your friend Olette having a kid. How would that feel?" Axel asked.

"I-" Roxas paused. "Not good," he couldn't picture his best girl friend pregnant. Not so soon. What did this have to do with anything?

"When my dad was twenty-two, he died of a drug overdose. My mom became an alcoholic, and I was put up for adoption. When I turned seven, I was finally adopted by a single woman who married Solstice's father. Both of my parents were fucked because everything happened so early. They should have been living life and having fun, but instead they were out getting drunk and pregnant."

Roxas contemplated for a moment; he never, ever looked at it this way. He could never even guess that Axel had such a past. He breathed into his cold hands as an excuse to not have to say anything.

"Point is," Axel said, "it'd be best to just try to be a kid from now on." When Roxas looked up at Axel, he was smirking. "Got it memorized?"

Roxas nodded, smiling.

For Axel.

"Your hands cold?" Axel asked, looking at Roxas, who had been trying and failing to warm up his hands for the past five minutes. Axel pulled his gloved hands out of his pockets and handed him a glove.

"But then one of your hands would be cold," Roxas stuttered and hesitated to put the glove on his left hand. It was warm, and it had sort of an Axel-ish aura about it. In fact, it was so warm Roxas could guess that he had been lighting it with the lighter that he finally stuck back in his pocket.

"No, it won't, kid," Axel assured him, and with his left hand, he reached out and grabbed Roxas's right one. He began walking and Roxas, of course, was forced to follow. "Now both of our hands are warm."

"My name's Roxas, not kid," Roxas murmured, but not loud enough for Axel to hear. He didn't know what he was more nervous about, the fact that he was holding Axel's hand as they walked through Tram Commons, looking at all of the beautifully lit trees, or the fact that Axel might find out that he was nervous about the former.

"Are you nervous?" Axel asked as if he was reading Roxas's mind. Roxas, thankfully, had gotten used to this already.

"No," Roxas said almost automatically and with a bit of a shaky tone.

Again, Roxas sucked at lying.

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"If your best friend was eaten by a killer whale, what is the first thing you would do?" Pence asked, watching Larxene intently. Larxene was turning red either from the cold or her probably immensely strong need to go to the bathroom, something that Pence was robbing her of for the time being.

"My best friend wouldn't be eaten by a killer whale," Larxene responded boredly, almost maliciously, "Are we almost done yet?"

"N-no!" Pence said, trying his hardest to stall her. Damn, Roxas owed him a lot of ice cream after this. "Just a few more questions. If you found out that you were living in an alternate world and were actually just the second half of somebody that lost their heart to the darkness, how would you react?"

"_What_?!" Larxene asked. "These questions are ridiculous. And how do you remember the answers? You don't even have a pencil or paper!"

"I have an audiographic memory, ma'am," Pence responded, gulping. He didn't even know if he had just made that word up, but it sure as hell did sound convincing. "Could you please answer my question? It's worth 3/4ths of my cumulative grade." He tried his best to sound like a whiny schoolkid.

"_Winter_ school," Larxene mumbled, "I'd probably kill myself out of the frustration if I found out that I was the 'second half of somebody that lost their heart to the darkness'," Larxene finally responded, obviously running out of answers.

_Who wouldn't kill you_? Pence thought to himself, although outwardly he was grinning. "Next question."

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Finally, after a little more talking, they returned to where Axel had left Larxene. Roxas could see Pence interrogating Larxene, slightly relieving some of his nerves. "Tomorrow at Solstice and my new house, the one behind the bar, I'm having some friends and family over for a Christmas party. And alcohol will be limited strictly to majors," he elaborated, causing Roxas to chuckle a little, "Do you and your friends want to come?"

Roxas, flushed now, looked down at his feet. Only Pence would be celebrating Christmas with his family, and that would be over before eight o'clock because his parents were working the next day. He nodded quickly now, smiling. "I do," Roxas said, tasting those words on his tongue and lips.

Axel's lips brushed Roxas's once more, the same electrifying heat quickly coursing through his body. Axel lingered a moment longer this time, and Roxas got the chance to memorize Axel's taste- it was sweet in a way that made him think that Axel bit his lip too often, but salty as if he had eaten a lot of sea salt ice creams. When Axel pulled away, Roxas's lips suddenly felt tasteless. "Great. Nine o'clock. Got it memorized?"

"Yeah," Roxas responded and Axel let go of his hand. Thankfully, Larxene looked back at them the moment that their hands had parted. "I'll see you there," he responded, stuttering once more, especially with Larxene looking their way.

"Good," he said, and Larxene walked up to him. As they walked away, Axel's back turned from Roxas, he shouted back to him, "By the way, your hands were shaking."

**Author's Note: Okay, I sort of stole that last line from a song, but I didn't realize it until after I put it in. xD So I personally thought that it was pretty darn cute this chapter, even though I kind of made it up as I went along. I have so much planned for the next one, so look out for it! Again, please review! Thank you! x3**


	7. Protecting

**Author's Note: Alright, next chapter up! I think there's something up with the alerts, or there was when I posted the last chapter, so if you haven't read it yet, go back and read chapter five! There's going to be a lot of drama to add to the huge amount of fluff in this chapter, so be ready!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, it wouldn't be rated Everyone Ten and Over.**

**Oh, and PS- I've been saving these lyrics for a special chapter because of how well they fit. x3**

**Chapter Six:**

**Protecting**

_You are young, but so am I_

_And this is wrong, but who am I to judge?_

_You feel like heaven when we touch._

_I guess for me, this is enough._

_We're one mistake from being together_

_But let's not ask why it's not right._

_You won't be seventeen forever_

_And we can get away with this tonight._

'Seventeen Forever' by Metro Station

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"Do we have to open gifts this early?" Pence asked, yawning, "I have to get to my parents' house in a half an hour." He was never one to complain, but his parents were strict; he was lucky that he managed to convince them to let him stay at Hayner's house for the entire Winter Break.

"It's a tradition!" Olette said excitedly, "I'll trade with Hayner first," she decided, pulling up a giftbox wrapped in silver paper with a blue ribbon. "Sorry about the Hanukkah wrapping, they didn't have anything left at the store we went to."

Hayner laughed as he yawned, taking the gift. He hadn't even put a shirt or jeans on yet, and he sat in his boxer shorts, ready to fall on his back in exhaustion; he didn't really care what he looked like, but that was to be expected out of him. As he ripped apart the wrapping paper, he smiled. "A leather jacket," he said, putting it on over his bare back, "Nice, maybe Seifer'll be afraid of me now."

"And maybe Rai will get a Master's degree in medicine," Olette laughed as she took the present addressed to herself.

"Wait," Hayner said, quickly, "don't open it until later, after Axel's party," he paused, "just one break in the tradition."

Olette put her hand under her chin. "I don't know. What's the magic word?"

_She's just like my mother,_ Hayner thought bitterly, and ground his teeth together as he answered her, "_Please_?"

"Sure." She put it to the side and began to exchange with Pence. "Hey, Roxas, are you home?" Olette called to Roxas, who had been sitting on the floor of the living room, not moving an inch, but just looking at his hand as if it was some kind of rare treasure, turning it every now and again, but still staring at it in wonder.

"Yeah," Roxas said lightly, his voice phlegmy from not talking.

Thankfully, the rest of present exchanging went by quickly. And, just like every Christmas, Pence shared the candies that he got with everyone. Unfortunately, Pence had to leave to go celebrate Christmas with his family, something the rest of them hadn't planned on doing. Olette's family wasn't very religious, Hayner's family was gone all Winter Break (except for Tristan, of course, who nobody exactly wanted to celebrate with), and Roxas's parents had so many kids that neither of them would notice if he was gone.

An hour later, the three of them were just lounging around Hayner's house when the doorbell rang. "I got it," Hayner said, because he had finally gotten dressed about a half an hour earlier. When he opened the door, the grin on his face couldn't be much bigger; it was Solstice. "Hey," Hayner said.

"Hey," Solstice said back, walking in the house. "I heard that Roxas is around here?"

Hayner frowned. "How did you know that Roxas is here?" He wasn't worried about the two of them, no, that would be unlikely considering Roxas's orientation, but Roxas being there was supposed to be a secret; if Solstice knew, it was possible that Larxene and Marluxia both knew as well, which was never good.

"You guys are always together, it was just a lucky guess that you live together." Solstice responded, trying not to look Hayner in the eyes. _Crap_, Hayner thought, _she's still upset about me knocking Seifer into an old lady._

"W-we don't live together like _that_, it's just-"

"Can I just see him?" Solstice asked. Obviously, she wasn't a morning person. She had slight bags under her eyes, but the kind that would go away after an hour or two more of being awake, and her attitude wasn't quite as smart-ass-y as it usually had been. She didn't look like she even had enough energy to scold Hayner.

"Yeah," Hayner said, preferring to keep all of his body parts intact. He led Solstice into the living room where Roxas was sitting. "Hey, Rox, Solstice wants to talk to you," Hayner said, and then walked off mumbling something about how 'that idiot Seifer deserved it' and a colorful array of words that parents aren't allowed to say around children.

"Roxas, we've met before once," Solstice said, sitting next to Roxas on the couch. Roxas nodded, a little nervous. "And, I'm going to be blunt here because I suck at beating around the bush. You're in trouble."

Roxas's heart dropped down to his stomach at that moment, "What do you mean?"

"Larxene saw you walking with Axel yesterday, and she's going to be at the party. Just thought you should get a heads-up." She pushed herself off of the couch and dusted off her jeans, but Roxas just gave her a perplexed look.

"Why do you-" Roxas started, but he was cut off by Solstice.

"Care?" Solstice asked, and Roxas nodded his head, but he continued to look at his feet. At least this girl could finish his sentences for him so he wouldn't have to. "It's because this'll be the first functional relationship Axel's ever had. And I owe it to him to help him out." Solstice put her shoes back on.

Although Roxas was a bit giddy with the idea that he might end up in a relationship with Axel, he started again, "W-why do you owe it to him?" _There I go again_, he thought angrily to himself, _stuttering._

Solstice put up a finger as if stating a fact when she said, "That's not important," and she turned around, walking through the door. Roxas sighed; maybe he could ask her again when he was at Axel's party later.

Roxas was pulled out of his thought process when Hayner lifted a gift box from the floor, "Hey, Rox, you missed one..." Hayner paused, however, when he read the tag on it. "You got a gift for Axel? How did you even know what to buy him?" Hayner asked, less-than-carefully putting it back down in the corner where Roxas had set it.

"CDs, lighters, and alcohol," Roxas said, "I overheard Larxene saying that those are the only things he likes."

"_We_ did," Olette corrected him, "when we saw Larxene and Marluxia at Sears."

"No wonder that chick's after you," Hayner commented, sitting back down on the couch next to Roxas where Solstice had been sitting only a moment before, "you're an eavesdropper," he laughed, and threw a pillow at Roxas.

Roxas laughed and threw it back as he said, "At least Seifer doesn't like Axel."

"Point taken."

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"Pence, hurry your ass up!" Hayner called from the open window of Olette's Honda as Pence said good-bye to his family, "The party started a half an hour ago. Fashionably late is one thing, but this is ridiculous. C'mon, left, right, left," Roxas laughed; obviously, Hayner was excited to get to the party as well.

Of course, Roxas was gripping the present in trembling fingers; he had promised Axel that he would stay away from alcohol, drugs, and big parties, but it was the alcohol that gave him the courage for the parties. That and Axel; it was only alcohol and Axel that ever made him able to hold a decent conversation. Finally, he heard the reassuring thud of the front door that showed Pence had finally made it there.

"It's just in the back of Axel's Bar, right?" Olette asked, revving up the engine and backing out of Pence's driveway, "It's actually not that far away." She smiled as she saw Roxas, who was in the back seat. "You can stop shaking. I'm sure it'll be fine. We probably won't even be able to stay a while."

Roxas nodded. Besides, he would rather risk it to see Axel.

After just a few minutes they pulled up in front of the bar, and walked to the side of it where they saw the reassuring address. The door was open however, which was extremely odd considering how freezing it was outside. The three of them walked inside, and it was warm, almost uncomfortably so, and Roxas realized it was because the big room, the one where everyone was standing in, was surrounded with three fireplaces.

"_Food_!" Pence said, as if thanking the Junkfood God, and ran towards the table.

"Hey, there's Solstice," Hayner whispered to Roxas, and then made his way over to Solstice, leaving just Roxas and Olette. They were suprised; there weren't many people at the party, which was expected because Axel said he was only inviting close friends and family, but they still looked like they were having a fun time.

"Hey," Axel's voice called across the room, and he crossed it to go meet up with Roxas, embracing him quickly. Roxas's cheeks flushed a little red, and it took Roxas a moment to realize that he should probably hug him back. When Axel pulled away, he realized there was another man standing next to him. He had long, blue hair, oddly shaped ears, and a very stern face. "Hey, kid, this is Saïx, one of my close friends. He said he wanted to meet you."

Roxas's feet shuffled; Axel had been talking about him. Along with his hug, this information had already made Roxas's night worthwhile. He looked up, giving a half-smile, unsure of how to talk to him, "Hey," he responded, and Saïx stuck his hand out, which Roxas shook. _Right; people shake hands when they first meet._

Granted, this wasn't always the case. In Roxas and Axel's situation, people hand each other bags of chips when they first meet.

"Axel told me that you like music," Saïx said, "I'm actually a producer." He smiled importantly.

"Wow," Roxas said, his eyes widening. "What kind of music?"

"I'll be in the kitchen," Axel said, and then said something softer about maybe hounding Solstice for food. "I'll be out in a minute, though." As he walked away, Roxas could pretty much feel the nervousness twisting around his gut again; with Axel gone, how was he supposed to talk to this guy?

It was worth a shot. For Axel.

Besides, at least they had something in common.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Author's Note: Wow, the first scene shift with Axel being the lead character. This should be interesting. ;o**

Axel let out a sigh of relief when he made it into the kitchen, happy to be away from all of his cousins and friends. Taking them on separately, they were so much easier to deal with, but in a crowd, they were difficult. He took out his lighter and ignited the flame a few times, just to settle him down. It worked ever since he was a little kid; the rushing of heat that eminates from the flame and the constant, gorgeous flickering. It always settled him down. That was why he collected lighters; it wasn't like he actually smoked.

"Axel, help me out, here," Solstice said, strained as she tried to prepare something. One of Roxas's friends, Hayner, with the odd blond hair was pestering Solstice when she was having difficulty making apple pie.

"I can help you," Hayner said excitedly, taking one of the apples and a knife and chopping it up like a madman.

"No, you can't... What?" Solstice stopped as she saw the final result of what Hayner had done. The apple was chopped up perfectly, and she looked up at Hayner, gaping. Axel laughed; he wasn't exactly the kind of person that he expected to be a cook. "Since when can you cook?" Solstice asked, and Axel put his hand to his forehead. Solstice was always a little dense when it came to boys; she never knew when they were trying to impress her.

Before Hayner could ask, however, another figure stepped through the door, Seifer. He had a cast around his ankle and his face still held a bruise, although Axel didn't know where that came from. In fact, Axel was a little testy around him most of the time; he was the one that tried to kidnap Roxas, after all.

Axel grinned; that was when he first kissed him.

As Seifer and Hayner got in an obvious argument, Axel lounged back, his head resting against the wall. _Roxas_. He wasn't even too sure what he felt in this kid; hell, he barely even used his name, even when thinking to himself. The first thing he thought when he met Roxas was that he was a vulnerable little kid, experimenting with alcohol, and he did prove to be vulnerable. Axel had saved his ass once. Experimental, as well. But he wasn't the little kid that Axel thought he was, not exactly. This kid was serious; He was sure in his feelings, and as much as Axel wanted to break off ties with him to protect him, he couldn't let go.

Axel and relationships were just two words that could never be put together. He pulled out his favorite lighter again, the silver and orange striped one, and madly began to ignite and put out that little ball of flame that came from the top, and sighed. Roxas was seventeen. Axel was twenty-one. That was asking for trouble.

"_Axel_!" Solstice shouted, "Help!"

Axel sighed and shoved his lighter back in his pocket. He walked up to Hayner and Seifer, who had been throwing apples at each other, and picked them each up by the back of their shirts; he swore, it was like dealing with a couple of preschoolers.

"Let's see, I'm the stepbrother, so I choose," Axel grinned, and looked at the two of them. "I'd dump the cripple."

"Axel, be serious!"

"Stop fighting, seriously," Axel said with no real heat in his voice, but just the look on his face was warning enough for these two to not do anything more. "But you," he looked at Hayner, "keep cutting apples. Solstice sucks."

Solstice grimaced and took the knife, dicing up the apple into small, crazy-looking pieces.

"No," Hayner groaned, and continued, "Like this." He walked behind Solstice and took both of her hands in his, holding the knife and apple firmly, and began to make the movements. Axel laughed; if only Hayner could see both the annoyance and shade of red on Solstice's face at that very moment. Then again, it would never rival Seifer's.

"Axel," another voice came, and Axel's smile faded to a small one. Larxene was walking up to him, dressed in a way that he really didn't want to mention, with that look on her face again. The same one that she always had. Of course, she was his second cousin; it was obligatory to invite her to the party, but he would have avoided it if he had a chance. "You didn't invite that kid, did you?"

"I-" Axel stopped, and looked at Larxene's pocket. Her knife- of _course_, that was why Roxas had been so nervous around Larxene. This wasn't the first time, in fact, this was partly the reason why none of Axel's relationships seemed to work out. She threatened Roxas just like she threatened everyone else.

It was _because_ she threatened someone that Axel and his sister were forced to move. The job of tending a bar was just an added bonus. Larxene had threatened the son of the mayor of the city, and they had to get out of there before she ever told him her name, or else she would have been thrown in jail. Another reason Axel's least favorite pasttime was discussing his past; it was never a good one. "Yes," Axel finished.

Larxene sighed, "Axel, I'm sick of you playing around with people like that. We both know what you really want." _Shit_, Axel thought as Larxene pushed him straight against the wall, her hands on his arms. Before Axel got a chance to protest, he heard a door open, and felt Larxene's lips against his. They were rough and harsh, and he swore that if he stayed that way for too long, his lips would bleed.

When Larxene pulled away, she looked to her right. Axel looked to his left, and his stomach dropped, but he didn't let it show. Roxas was staring at them, his jaw dropped and backing up slightly.

If he didn't do this, Larxene would hurt him. He had to.

"Axel?" Roxas asked in a small voice. "What about...?"

"Kid," Axel said, even though he could feel his heart breaking. "You're making a mistake going after me. I don't like you, I never have. Stop trying." Even Axel was biting back a tear, but he had to do something, anything to keep Roxas away.

"Roxas," Hayner called, who had been watching the whole thing.

Roxas shook his head and ran out of the kitchen, Hayner and Solstice both following him. Axel, however, walked away from Larxene, to the opposite door. Once again, Larxene ruined everything. Either that, or it was his own problem. He took out the lighter; "Fuck this," he said after a moment, and shoved it back in his pocket. Even fire couldn't help. He headed back towards the kitchen.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Roxas!" Solstice called when Roxas had finally run out of breath and stopped at the end of the sidewalk. "Get back here!" she shouted angrily, but Roxas just looked at her dumbstruck. She was walking with Hayner, both of them obviously worried about him. Roxas didn't know what to think after what just happened; he didn't _want_ to think about it. Nothing made sense, but then again, nothing ever did.

"What?" Roxas asked, his voice cracking from the tears that he was holding back. There was no way that Roxas would cry, not in front of Axel's stepsister, and not in front of Hayner, who would probably slap him if he did. This was something he could only do around Olette, and God did he need her around.

"I said, get back here!" Solstice said, "What are you doing, running away like that?"

"Save it," Roxas murmured, "you were in on it the whole time. You just wanted to see Axel tell me off."

"Yeah, because I'm so goddamn sadistic, I love seeing my brother's love interests get 'told off' like that. Who do you _take_ me for?" Solstice asked angrily, her force surprising even Hayner. After all, it was such a contrast to the sweet, motherly tone she had used on Seifer when he fell into the old lady.

"Then... what?" Roxas asked, shaking his head, trying not to look at Solstice.

"You don't get it, do you?" Solstice asked, "Axel didn't mean anything he said. He's not even with Larxene; Hayner and I both saw it. She threw herself on him. She's been waiting to do that, after all."

Roxas shook his head, unconvinced. "Even if that's true," he began, "then why would he say those things?"

"He was trying to protect you from Larxene," Solstice said in a small voice, but still so sure of herself, "I told you, he actually cares about you. This isn't the first time Larxene's threatened someone. He found out, and he was trying to protect you from him so you wouldn't get hurt by Larxene." She paused. "He was willing to give you up if it meant that you wouldn't get hurt, you dipshit."

Roxas's mouth was, again, wide open. He wanted to believe it, but nothing reassuring came from his stomach or anywhere else. How could he know how to trust her? Right- because she was his stepsister, and she had owed him something. "Oh." was all Roxas could say as he stood stupidly on the sidewalk.

"What are you waiting for?" Solstice asked angrily, pulling his shoulder forward so he was in front of her, and then pushing his back. "Go back to Axel; tell him that you won't stand for that!" she commanded him. Roxas started forward, and then it turned into a sprint. Hayner and Solstice on the other hand, just walked. They had no reason to run.

"I love how you take charge," Hayner said, raising an eyebrow.

"Just shut up," Solstice said quickly, not looking at him.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The party still seemed the same as usual, as if the scene hadn't interrupted anything. It shouldn't have, anyway; that was in the kitchen, which was cut off from the rest of the house. With a heavy heart, Roxas crossed the room and opened the door to the kitchen. Axel was standing there alone, resting his back against the tile wall.

"Axel," Roxas finally choked out, and Axel looked back at him. He searched for the right words in his mind, the right sentences and the right questions, but nothing came out. Just as he opened his mouth to say something else, he found himself silenced again by the same sweet and salty taste of Axel's lips.

"Mmf mf-!" Roxas attempted to say as Axel kissed him. His kiss was somewhat harsher this time, and a little more salty. It took Roxas a moment to notice why, but it was because there were tears dripping down into the kiss. Roxas shut himself up this time; Solstice wasn't lying. Axel was trying to protect him.

When Axel broke off for air, Roxas felt inclined to ask, even with his muscles spasming from the electric fire that Axel had sent down his being, "What about Larxene?" His voice didn't even _tremble_, which was a huge accomplishment for Roxas.

Axel shook his head, still gasping for air and said, "Kicked her out." He brought his lips back down to Roxas's, and Roxas could feel the slight brush of his tongue in his mouth. They pulled apart for air again, and Axel continued, "I'm calling the police on her. I've got some ties with the mayor of our last city."

And in another explosion, their lips met a third time. Roxas swore that Axel's heat could melt him, and he would stay a motionless puddle on that floor for the rest of his life. Finally, everything was going right. With Larxene out of the way, there was nothing that could stop them from being together.

Except.

They pulled apart again. "Axel," he murmured, "I'm seventeen. My eighteenth birthday isn't for months. We're still illegal." He liked that sound, however, _we_. He wanted to wrap that word around himself; it would probably be warm. Not as warm as Axel, but warm nonetheless.

Axel pulled him into another embrace, this one long and lingering. "I'll take that chance."

"Axel," Roxas whispered lightly, "I... love you. I think."

He felt a chuckle from Axel's chest. "Kid..." he paused. "Roxas. Me, too, I think."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"I think everything's going alright, though," Olette said after Hayner had told her about everything as they sat on the couch, watching everyone talking and laughing. Pence nodded, who was sitting at the other side of Olette. "I mean, I don't hear anything crashing. Larxene seemed pretty violent." Olette laughed.

"I watched her leave, actually," Pence brought up, "I think that Axel took care of her."

"It's about time," Olette smiled, looking back up at the ceiling.

"Olette," Hayner said, handing her a wrapped gift. "I asked you to wait until tonight. Open it now-" he paused and looked away, shrugging. "If you want." Olette laughed; boys and their constant trying to sound like they don't care.

Olette ripped apart the wrapping paper and stared blankly at what was inside. Inside was a Wolves Hockey jersey, ten times too big for her. Olette frowned and tried to make sense of this, looking at Hayner for some sense of understanding.

"There you go," Hayner said, "I don't owe you a shirt anymore, right?"

"I-" Olette started angrily, but then looked at the jersey and sighed. No sense in the fight continuing. After all, this was the first night that everything seemed to be working out well, whether or not it was exactly how they had planned. "Yeah, Hayner, you don't owe me anymore."

**Author's Note: That might be the longest chapter that I've posted for this so far, and I'm not too sure where the rest of the fanfiction's going to go, but I'm interested myself. I hope you liked it, please review!**


	8. Explosive

**Author's Note: Well, that was a fun chapter! And I'm going to say nothing about how the group is going to spend their last week, except that a couple of my reviewers are very smart. ;o Actually, this chapter might be kind of short, and I'm sorry, but the last one was really long. xD R and R please!**

**Chapter Seven:**

**Explosive**

_It's complicated this time, I think it could be._

_Triangulated, it could be just what we need._

_So what you say we give it up and walk away?_

_Nothing to salvage, anyway._

_Want to, oh, need to, oh, try to, oh._

_None of the above._

'Loose Ends' by Imogen Heap

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Hello?" Roxas started, picking up his cell phone. He didn't recognize the number, let alone the area code, but he was in a good enough mood. It was only nine in the morning, the day after Christmas, but he hadn't gotten any sleep, anyway. His limbs still twitched every once in a while at the mere memory of Axel's kisses.

"Roxas? It's Saïx, Axel's friend. Remember me?" the low voice from the other end asked.

Roxas nodded, but then noted that Saïx couldn't see him, and responded, "Yeah, the music producer." _Wow_, he thought, _did I just make a real sentence? A response?_ It was true, after all. Axel's sociable nature was finally rubbing off on him. At least, that was what he would like to believe.

"You told me the other night that you were looking for a job. I was just talking to the friend of mine, the owner of the CD store Treble Union, and they have a part-time job opening, just selling the music. You interested?" Saïx asked.

Roxas grinned; he _was_ looking for a job. Specifically one that would get him out of his house as soon as he turned eighteen. What better way than to work at a place where he was around something he surrounded himself with all the time anyway? Music. "Of course, thank you so much," Roxas said.

"Great," Saïx finished, he sounded a bit in a hurry. "The store's located just outside of Tram Commons, it's impossible to miss. Your interview's at noon. Tell Axel I said hi if you see him today." And then, the phone clicked off. Obviously, Saïx was very hard-working. But Roxas had a _job_. At least, he almost did. He would be out of that dump of a house soon enough.

Now that he thought about it, the last week that they all had been living in Hayner's house had been one of the best of Roxas's life. The house where he lived with the tens of other kids he wasn't even related to with less-than-caring foster parents wasn't exactly Roxas's idea of an amazing home.

He would have to dial Hayner and tell him that he wouldn't be able to be at home for lunch. That was okay with Roxas; Hayner usually ordered take-out, and Roxas decided that he could use some actual restaurant food. The phone rang twice before Hayner picked up. "Talk to me," Hayner said.

"Hey," Roxas began, and he wondered faintly why people just don't say 'hello' when they pick up the phone anymore. **Author's Note: A personal question of mine. xD**

"Rox," Hayner said, "hey, I'm over at Solstice's. Teaching her how to cut apples." Roxas laughed; when did Hayner ever learn that? He did think it was about time Hayner got in touch with a slightly feminine side, though. He had enough testosterone to fuel a body builder. Then again, Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay were amazing chefs, and they were male. **Author's Note: My parents always have the food channel on. Dx**

"At Solstice's?" Roxas asked. If he stayed there past noon, that would be the perfect excuse to go and see Axel.

"Yeah," Solstice called, and Roxas supposed that he was probably on speakerphone, "if you and Axel weren't playing tonsil hockey in the kitchen last night maybe I could have learned then," she joked.

Roxas knew that she was kidding, but still he flushed red as he sat on a bench in the sandlot. "Funny," he muttered, but then he told Hayner, "I'm not giong to be home for lunch, I've got a job interview at Treble Union at twelve. Hayner? Are you listening?"

"You got apple sauce on my shirt!" Solstice complained in the background, and Roxas could hear the chopping of more apples. "You owe me a new shirt."

"Not _again_!" Hayner complained loudly.

"Hayner?"

"Oh, yeah, Axel wants to talk to you. One second." Roxas opened his mouth to ask Hayner if he heard him, but instead, Axel began to talk.

"Hello, Roxas."

_He said 'hello',_ Roxas noted blankly, and after he realized that he had been lingering on that thought for long enough to make him seem stupid. "Hey, Axel," he paused only for a moment and then said, "great party last night." Quickly after, however, he mentally slapped himself. He was only pointing out the obvious; of _course_ it was a great party. Larxene was gone for good, and Roxas had the best night of his life.

"Yeah it was," Axel replied smugly, causing Roxas to chuckle, "hey, I forgot to give you your Christmas present last night. I think we were both a little..." there was a short moment of silence, "distracted." Roxas could hear Solstice's loud, 'Hah!' even through the phone, which had been taken off speaker. "You should come over later so I can."

Roxas smiled. "I'm free whenever."

"Why don't you, Hayner, Olette and... the other guy, Pence, come over for dinner?" He stopped for a quick moment, "I think we'll be having apple everything."

"Sounds great!" Roxas said, maybe a little too enthusiastically. Everything was going great; he also wouldn't have to settle for Pence's high-fat cooking anymore. He had taken over halfway through the first week when Olette got quickly tired of cooking. Also, he would be able to give Axel his gift, and buy one for Solstice; he owed her a lot.

"I'll bet Solstice would like having some friends over, too. Then I'll leave you to whatever you're doing. Come over at five o'clock. Got it memorized?"

Roxas smiled again; Axel had an odd habit of saying those three words. "Yeah," he paused again, smiling like an idiot. "Bye."

The phone clicked off and Roxas slid down into the bench. "Best Christmas ever," Roxas mumbled, and then pulled out his wallet. Twenty dollars left; it should be enough to buy a gift for Solstice, Roxas thought. However, his amazing thoughts were interrupted when he felt his wallet get ripped from his hand, and looked up to find Seifer looking through his wallet.

"Just twenty, Homo?" Seifer asked, raising an eyebrow. Ever since someone let it slip that Roxas was non-hetero, Seifer had ceased to know the name Roxas and forever condemned him to Homo. Which could mean anything, really. Roxas could be a _Homo sapien_, he could have gained homogenous traits, or anything, so he never paid much attention to it. "Damn, get yourself a job." He didn't even bother to take the twenty out, and just threw it back at Roxas, which Roxas managed to barely catch.

"Coming from the retard trying to steal the money." Roxas frowned. "What do you want?" It was easy to talk to Seifer, as well, because when Roxas talked to people, it was usually derogative, and that was like normal chat to Siefer.

"I heard your boyfriend got his own second cousin arrested for you. Seems a little cold, don't you think?" Seifer asked, not sitting down and asserting his dominance over the conversation, "And I'll bet that you're torn up about it, being the cause of him sending her to the bird cage."

"No, actually, I feel like a bucket of daisies. Don't you have anyone else to harass? Maybe a little schoolkid who just got his allowance?" Roxas asked, shoving his wallet back in his pocket before he crossed his arms across his chest.

"If you mean Pence, he doesn't have any money either. I heard you were just on the phone with Solstice. She still-" Apparently, Seifer was going to shoot out another condescending phrase towards him or one of his friends, but Roxas got bored and stood up. If there was anything more satisfying than the fact that Larxene had been sent to jail was Hayner's angry shouting at him to 'get back here' as he turned the corner from the sandlot and into the alley with The Usual Spot.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The Treble Union was like a heaven on Earth for Roxas. It was surrounded by music that he was surprised to know almost everything about, and it even smelled like sweat and dancing. Even as he walked in, Escape the Fate was blasting from the speakers. Something told him that he was going to get this job.

He walked up to the counter, however, and froze. Tristan, Hayner's brother, was working the counter. Hayner's psychotic brother who saw 'black bug-like animals with glowing yellow eyes'. Why hadn't Hayner warned him about it? Oh, right, he was probably fawning over Solstice. "Hey," Roxas said in a small voice.

"Roxas," the boy responded, his expression dazed and not exactly where Roxas was. "How can I help you?"

"I've got a job interview with the manager?" Roxas asked.

"Yup, come inside," he opened the small door to behind the counter and then walked through the large door behind it, and Roxas followed him. There was nobody else in there except Tristan.

"Where's the manager?" Roxas asked.

"You're looking at him," Tristan responded, and Roxas's stomach dropped. Small world; Saïx, Axel's best friend, was friends with Tristan, Hayner's brother, who was Roxas's best friend. Suddenly, the room was spinning. Roxas sat down across from Tristan, hoping to God that the mental hospital did him some good. "So, Roxas, any experience?"

Roxas shook his head.

"Do you know a lot about music?"

Roxas nodded.

"Are you good with people?"

Roxas hesitated, and he shook his head.

"Great, you've got the job." He stood up from his desk, which was littered with odd papers labeled 'Ansem's Reports', almost as quickly as he had sat down, and stuck out his hand for Roxas to shake. Roxas stood up and shook it; somehow, he pictured his first job interview to be a little... different. "Can you start tomorrow at three? I'll have your hours ready by then." Roxas must have been dreaming, because Tristan seemed somewhat _sane_.

"Yeah, thanks so much, I'll be there," and then he mentally kicked himself, because people probably didn't string together multiple answers in one sentence like that, but at least he had the job. He turned on his heel to exit the room, before he heard Tristan speak again.

"I'll be waiting," he said in a slow, seductive voice.

With Roxas's heart pounding, he practically darted out of the shop. Great, Saïx had given him a job with Hayner's, still very insane, brother. But somewhere was better than nowhere, even for only nine fifty an hour.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

It was four-thirty when Roxas arrived at Axel and Solstice's house, so obviously he didn't 'have it memorized'. He rang the doorbell and saw Solstice at the door with Hayner standing behind her. Apparently, he hadn't left. Olette was reclining on the couch, obviously having made it there early as well. Pence would probably be on time. "Roxas," she started, "Axel's in the shower. He'll be out soon."

_Can I go see_? Roxas thought, but then shook his head and smiled. Solstice gave him a look, and Roxas's cheeks flushed red. Socially awkward as usual, but at least he got to be socially awkward at Axel's house. He had only been there once before, but it already felt like more of a home than Olette's house, Hayner's house, and his own house combined.

Still, Roxas set the two gifts down on the table. He could smell apples from the kitchen. "Thanks," he spouted at Solstice, causing her to whip around so fast that her brown hair almost got caught in her mouth, "for not letting me leave last night." he paused, "Thanks." He was relieved to see Solstice's soft smile.

"Of course. Like I said, I owe him."

"How do you mean?" Hayner asked. Now, Roxas, Hayner and Olette's eyes were all on Solstice's golden brown ones. She had refused to tell Roxas the day before when she visited the house, or maybe she had just gone off the subject, but she smiled and closed her eyes.

"When our parents got married, they were really happy," she started, "but they got so happy with each other that they forgot about us. The day that Axel turned twenty-one, he announced that he got a job owning a bar here at Twilight Town, miles away from where we lived. He was going to leave me with our parents, who were neglecting us, but he saw how lonely I was and let me come with him." She paused. "He pretty much saved me."

Roxas smiled warmly. He knew that Axel was a good person. That had to be something that deeply attracted him to him. "I know what it's like to have parents that neglect you," Roxas said, trying to make Solstice smile again. "I went from foster home to foster home before I was finally adopted, and my 'parents' have so many kids, they barely know if I'm around anymore. I wish I was like you and could just move out."

Solstice grinned. "Maybe you could."

At that, Axel walked out of the bathroom at the side of the house, wearing only a towel, and Roxas's cheeks turned a maddening shade of red. Axel, however, didn't seem uncomfortable at all. In fact, he walked straight up to Roxas and hugged him with a firm, damp chest, right before kissing him on the cheek. "You're early," he grinned at him. "So, did you get the job?"

Roxas shook his head, trying to bring himself back down to Earth, because Axel had sent him floating. "Yeah," he said, "thanks to your friend, Saïx."

Smirking, Axel responded, "I don't make friends with just anybody."

"Speaking of," Roxas said, turning to Hayner, "why didn't you tell me that Tristan works at The Treble Union?" he asked his friend.

Hayner just shrugged. "You never asked."

"I've got dinner ready," Solstice called, who had walked to the kitchen to set everything up once Axel had gotten out of the shower. Pence had shown up some time in the middle of their conversation, but he didn't even say hello; he just walked straight to the kitchen. That was probably okay with Solstice, because she could always use some company. **Author's Note: Yeah, company like when Hayner was fighting Seifer the night before. xD**

They all walked in, and the kitchen table had just six chairs, just enough for all of them. Just as Axel had anticipated, everything was apples. In fact, over half of their meal consisted of apple pie. Either way, Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette downed their entire meal without even saying a word, obviously starved of nutrition for the past week that they had been living only with each other. Solstice and Axel, though, were just laughing and taking their time.

After they were finished eating, they made their way back to the living room, which seemed to be Olette's favorite room, because she almost fell asleep on the couch. Roxas grabbed the gifts for Axel and Solstice, and Axel seemed genuinely surprised.

"How'd you know what to get me?" Axel asked inquisitively as he opened it up.

"Olette and I overheard Larxene and Marluxia in Sears." Roxas said quietly, but Axel just laughed, both at the small story and the joy of what he saw.

"Thanks, kid," Axel said, and Roxas flushed; apparently, Axel hadn't gotten out of the habit of calling him 'kid' just yet. In fact, Roxas didn't even know why Axel liked lighters so much; it wasn't like he smoked. He remembered faintly the last time he saw him with one, he was just igniting the flame and letting it die down. Was he some sort of a pyro?

"Wow," Solstice said in a quiet voice, looking at the drawing kit that Roxas had gotten her. "How did you know I liked to draw?"

"Honestly, I guessed," Roxas said, looking at his feet, "you seemed like the creative type."

Solstice's grin grew and she pulled Roxas into a quick hug. Something told Roxas that they would become fast friends.

"Great, now maybe you can make some artwork to brighten up this place," Axel suggested, and looked at the gray walls, which were practically laughing at him, the only motion on them being the television as Pence flipped through channels. "And Roxas," he turned towards his younger companion. "I love it." He bent down and kissed Roxas's lips, catching him slightly off-guard. When he pulled away, Roxas felt like something was missing. And he remembered the words that he had said to Axel the night before.

"I love you... I think." What did he even mean by that? However, his thoughts were interrupted when he was handed a beautifully wrapped box with the colors of red and orange. They weren't exactly Christmas colors, but they seemed to suit Axel's fiery personality a little better, anyway.

Roxas opened it feverishly, and saw a Mindless Self Indulgence CD, and just gaped. It was the one that he _didn't_ have. "How did you...?"

"'Honestly, I guessed'," Axel laughed, mimicking Roxas. Roxas gave him a toothy smile and looked up at him through heavy lids. "Hey, don't look like that," Axel said, pulling him into a forceful embrace, "that's not fair," he said, quieter.

"Uh, guys," Pence said, "sorry to interrupt your sexual assaults, but-" he was staring at the television.

"Hm? Some psychotic prisoner escaped?" Solstice asked, laughing.

"Not just 'some psychotice prisoner'. They're describing her as a blond female, just sent to the prison for attempted assault the night before. There aren't any traces of her."

Roxas's hand found Axel's, and Axel gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Larxene."

**Author's Note: See, I told you reviewers that you are smart. ;o Sorry this chapter was somewhat uneventful, but I hope that it gets better. At least I've got a plot set up in my mind. I'm going to make this fanfiction end at about chapter fifteen, about one day per chapter. I hope to make the last chapters eventful! Please review!**


	9. What you Don't Know

**Author's Note: Again, I have no idea what I'm going to do in this chapter, but I guess I'll figure it out. Isn't that how it always works for me with this fanfiction? xD Anyway, Larxene's back! Oh, and this chapter will probably have a bit of comic relief, just because a lot has been happening lately. :D**

**Chapter Eight:**

**What you Don't Know**

_Visually, you're stimulating to my eyes_

_Your Cinderella Syndrome's full of lies_

_Your insecurities are concealed by your pride_

_Pretty soon your ego will kill what's left inside._

_Just as beautiful as you are._

_It's so pitiful what you are._

_you should have seen this coming all along._

'Beautiful' by 10 Years

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Ten minutes to three o'clock, and Roxas was on his way to his first day of work at The Treble Union. "Maybe it's nothing," he thought aloud; his mind had been on Larxene since they watched the news the other day. Axel didn't seem frightened at all; if anything, he almost seemed as if he was _expecting_ it.

But how the Hell did she get out of jail? Larxene was just scaring Roxas at that point; maybe she had only escaped so she wasn't behind bars. Maybe she didn't have any reason to go after Roxas after that, because she knew that Roxas had _won_. "Yeah, right," he mumbled to himself as he stepped inside of The Treble Union.

It smelled like sweat just like when he had went in the day before, and he immediately took off his coat; it was so _warm_ in there. Apparently, he was the last shift of the day, because Tristan immediately walked up to him and handed him the set of keys. "Your working schedule is taped to the door, don't forget to lock up when you leave."

Roxas stared blankly at the set of keys. "Shouldn't you teach me how to work the register?"

Tristan blinked at him. "Press the big red button to open it." He pointed to the register, and Roxas frowned. Somehow, he thought it was supposed to be a little more complicated than that. Not just that, but he didn't know the shop well enough. He sighed heavily; of course he would be forced to work at a place owned by someone so crazy that he wouldn't teach his employees how to run the shop.

Hell, it made sense why the first employee quit.

"Okay." Roxas said, frowning. It didn't seem like a very busy place, maybe he would be able to teach himself how to do everything. The point was, he would get _money_, and out of that dump of his parents' house as soon as he could.

"'Bye, Roxas," Tristan said, shortly after blowing him a kiss. When he walked out of the shop, Roxas made a disgusted face; Tristan just got weirder and weirder every single day. As he walked behind the cash register, he was unfortunate enough to get his first costumer. And that first costumer happened to be Fuu.

Roxas blinked; he didn't even know that Fuu listened to music. He didn't know that Fuu took an interest in _anything_ except being Seifer's lackey. Still, she walked in and walked over to the 'S' section and began flipping through, and then she shook her head. Roxas hated to do it, but he walked up to her and asked, "Can I help you with something?"

"Yes." Fuu said nothing more as she continued to flip through the CDs and not get what she was looking for.

_Okay_, Roxas thought, raising an eyebrow. He would have rather gotten Rai to work with; at least he can form one full sentence. "What do you need help finding?" Roxas asked, hoping that the band she was looking for was only one word.

"Snow." she responded.

_Snow_? Roxas thought, _Like the j-pop band? She listens to Snow?_ Somehow, it didn't seem enough like Fuu, but he shook his hand and picked it out of the pile with ease and handed it to her. She didn't smile or say anything, but just nodded her thanks and walked up to the counter. Roxas looked at the cash register and suddenly found himself confused.

"Uhm. Uh." He took the CD and swiped it under something that looked like a scanner, but was very confused when the CD came up as 129.99. "That's not right. One second." He took it again and scanned it multiple times, each time getting a uniquely ridiculous number. Finally, the cash register spazzed out on him, opened up, and pennies flew at his face. "Ten dollars." Roxas spat angrily.

Fuu rolled her eyes and handed him the money as he put the CD in the bag. As she walked away, Roxas swore under his breath; maybe he should have never talked to Axel's friend about wanting a job in the first place. Still, it was something.

After only a few minutes, when Roxas had been practicing with one of the CDs on display and he believed that he finally had the scanning thing down, another person walked in. She was an extremely large woman who could barely fit through the door, and when she pushed herself in, she grinned in accomplishment. She walked up to the counter and said nothing, so Roxas began the conversation.

"Hello, how are you?" he asked, trying to be polite.

"Hungry." the woman responded.

Roxas scratched the back of his head. "Can I help you find anything?"

"Chicken." she replied, pounding a fist on the counter. Roxas backed up a step and said, "Sorry, you're in a CD store. Can I help you find any CDs?" He suddenly became relieved as understanding spread throughout the woman's large features.

"Chicken D'Arduini!" she said happily, and Roxas shook his head, distressed. It must have been some type of chicken, but unfortunately, they did not sell any type or kind of chicken in The Treble Union.

"_No_," Roxas repeated, his odd temper catching up to him again as he put his hands together in frustration. "CDs. As in _compact discs._ As in musical artists that record their creations onto a piece of metal that looks like a doughnut."

"_DOUGHNUT?!_" the woman asked happily. Roxas put his hand up in surrender.

"No, I didn't mean to say-"

"Doughnut! Doughnut! Doughnut!" the woman shouted, pounding both of her fists against the counter expectedly as she didn't let her beady little eyes off of Roxas's face. Roxas sighed once more and tried to explain again.

"No, this?" he asked, taking out a CD, "Is music. Not a doughnut."

"If it's music, I'm no buying," the woman said, crossing her fat arms across her chest. "If it's a doughnut, I pay you fifteen dollars."

Fifteen dollars for a doughnut? Roxas really wanted to slap this woman silly, but he just put on a fake smile and said, "Yep," handing her the CD, and then putting his hand out, palm up. "It's a doughnut."

The woman smiled, satisfied, and handed him the crumpled money. He just wished that she didn't hop out of the shop. Maybe Roxas could use another afternoon at Axel's house; maybe Axel's words-of-wisdom would talk him out of keeping up with that job; only two costumers and Roxas already wanted to bash his head into a wall.

Roxas's stomach froze, however, when two more people walked into the shop; Larxene and Marluxia. So Larxene was after one of them; why would she go back to Twilight Town? Roxas ducked behind the counter, and searched for something, anything that would make him look _different_, or at least hide him until they left the shop. All he found was an old 80's rock wig and sunglasses.

Better than nothing.

He shoved on the wig, careful to tuck his honey hair under the black locks and stuck the John Lennon sunglasses on his face. As he stood back up, his abrupt appearance must have attracted them both, because their heads snapped towards him and they all gave him odd looks. As they looked back at each other to talk, he found himself listening intently to their conversation, happy his disguise was working.

"How long do you plan on keeping this up?" Marluxia asked, flipping through the L section, with Larxene next to him, flipping through the Ms. Obviously, they just needed a place to talk without people overhearing them.

"Just until I find that little brat and kill him," she spat back at him, "Axel, too. There's no way I'm letting him get away with it." She gave a malicious grin; yes, she was psychotic, and Roxas's suspitions had definitely been confirmed. "I don't care if I have to serve a life sentence in jail for murder."

"Your crazy," Marluxia said with no real heat as he picked up a copy of a Lacuna Coil CD, but then stuck it back, continuing his search. "I just gotta ask, why Axel? What's so important about him anyway?"

Larxene gave him a blank stare. "I was in love with him. I guess." she paused, "I still am."

Something shot up Roxas's stomach. He was in love with Axel... _maybe_. But Larxene seemed so sure of herself. Imagine how many people she had been fighting off just so she could be with him. For a moment, he seemed to feel bad for her, until she continued, "And I'm going to gut that little brat and separate his innards into little plastic baggies and re-arrange them in the wrong order."

"Devious," Marluxia said again, not all that interested. Maybe he was looking for a CD after all, because he picked out a Matchbook Romance CD by reaching over Larxene and smiled, beginning to walk up to Roxas.

"'Ello," Roxas said, trying to put on his best accent ever. He couldn't wait until he told Axel this; that she was most definitely after them. That way, they could protect themselves, and even order the police to search around Twilight Town.

"Hi." Marluxia said, a little distraught. Roxas scanned the CD, this time it coming up as a perfect 13.50, and Marluxia handed him exact change. Thank God, because he still had to figure out how to work the rest of that thing. When he handed Marluxia his CD, they began to chat more on their way out. Roxas pulled off his wig and sunglasses when he was sure that they were gone, and sighed heavily.

_Another_ customer just seconds after. But this one was familiar- it was the fat woman from before, holding half of a CD, looking angrily at Roxas. She stomped up to him as he stood stiff behind the counter and boomed, "THIS NO DOUGHNUT. I HAVE BONE TO PICK WITH YOU!" Her shouts could probably be heard through the walls.

Nervously, Roxas stuck the wig and glasses back on. "What ever do you mean?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Roxas twisted the key to the shop and shoved it in his pocket, thankful that the day was over. He had only worked for four hours, it was seven at night, but his costumers had made him want to cry. First, there was Fuu, the Wordless Wonder, then the woman, who he later learned was named Donna, who kept hounding him for food, and then Larxene.

_Larxene_. "I have to tell Axel," Roxas murmured as he began the walk home.

"Tell me what?" Axel's voice sounded as he put a hand on Roxas's shoulder. Roxas was too tired to be shocked or surprised, instead, he leaned into the touch, glad for his contact. "I saw Larxene at work. I managed to put on some kind of an 80's rock disguise meets Beatles, so she didn't recognize me, but..." Roxas turned to Axel. "We can call the police; we know that she's in Twilight Town."

Axel frowned. "But she might not be. Maybe she was looking for you."

Roxas nodded. "You, too."

Axel, however, seemed surprised, and his hand recoiled back to his side. "_Me_?" he asked, confused, "I thought she was in love with me or something. Why would she be after me?" Axel asked, with a slight pang of worry in his voice.

"I don't know," Roxas shook his head, searching for the right words from their conversation, "All she said was 'I'm not letting him get away with it' or something like that. I guess she's just jealous that you're not with her and that I-"

Axel chuckled and bent down to kiss Roxas, sending little electric shocks down his system. The kiss must have lasted a lifetime, or at least he would like to believe it did, and Axel wrapped his arm around Roxas's tiny waist and bit down on his lower lip a little. When Axel pulled away, he told him, "Let's not worry about that for now."

Roxas, still a little dazed from the kiss and smiling like an idiot said, "Okay," without any arguments or complaints.

"You must love the working world, kid," Axel laughed, and then turned on his heel. "Come on. I'm on my first break for the night, that should give us enough time to walk back to the bar. I'll let you unwind there."

"I thought I couldn't have any alcohol," Roxas laughed, but he did continue to follow the redhead. If he ever felt comfortable around anyone, it was Axel, so any excuse to be close to him was a good one.

"I'm not giving you alcohol," Axel laughed, "root beer, maybe. You don't need alcohol to have a good time." He paused, stopping in the middle of his walking as he put a hand to his chin. "Well, maybe some caffeine, but you drink enough of that, shorty."

"Hey!" Roxas laughed, "You're just way too tall."

Axel gave a small smile and looked at Roxas, making him feel small just with a stare. "Yeah, but you know you like it," he stated, pulling him into another kiss.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"I wanna go eat over at Axel's again tonight," Pence complained, digging through the closet. He had already eaten, but there was no stopping Pence when he was hungry. He wasn't even that fat, he just ate a lot.

"I think Axel's working tonight," Olette commented, a little tired of hearing Pence complained. "Got any fours?" she asked Hayner, who seemed to be equally bored, with at least twenty cards in his hand.

Hayner sighed and handed over the two fours in his pile. Olette smiled, and put down her last pair. "I win." She yawned slightly, "When does Roxas get off of work, anyway?" she asked the annoyed Hayner, who had lost to her several times already that night in several different varieties of games.

"Seven?" Hayner asked, shrugging. Obviously, it was anyone's guess. "And I'll bet he's going to go visit his _boyfriend_ afterwards, so it's not like we're going to be seeing him tonight," he commented, gathering all of the cards and not-so-gingerly stuffing them into the small cardboard box. He glared at the wall past Olette.

"Look who's touchy," Olette commented, sneering back at him. Maybe she should have worn the jersey that he had given her to make him feel a little bit better, but something told her that wouldn't help, so why not probe him further? "You're just upset that Solstice won't look your way twice."

"I'll have you know that we really _connected_ when I taught her how to cut apples," Hayner told her, stubbornly crossing his arms. **Author's Note: That'll be it for these three in this chapter, I just didn't want to leave them hanging. xD**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Roxas was surprised at the amount of people that knew Axel. The moment that they walked into the bar, Axel was greeted by seven or eight people. "I thought that you and Solstice only just set up this bar about a week ago," Roxas said. He sure as Hell hadn't heard about it before then.

"We did," Axel said, "I'm just a people person," he smiled, and walked behind the bar. "You can come back here with me, but if any cops come, you run behind the door, got it?" he told Roxas, and Roxas nodded. How he envied Axel and his unexplainable ability to get along with _everyone_ he met.

A man with gray and black streaked hair back in a ponytail and an eyepatch on handed Roxas a coke without even asking. "I've heard a lot about you, Roxas," the man said, "I'm Xigbar, I work the night shift here." Roxas didn't know how to respond, so he settled for a 'Nice to Meet You' as he shook his hand.

Unfortunately, before Roxas could even open up his coke, Solstice darted down the bar, and Roxas realized that he had momentarily forgot that she illegally worked there. She saw Roxas and smiled lightly, waving at him, but looked directly at Axel. "Axel, Larxene was just outside of the bar, but I threatened the police on her, and she went running."

"Shit," Axel said, "Let me call the police. So she is still here in Twilight Town." he murmured, "And she might be after you, too, now. Good going." Solstice frowned.

"Hey, I saved your asses," she mentioned.

"Right," Axel sighed, grabbing the phone off of the chord. "Hey, you two, go over to the restaurant section and sit there as if you're about to order something. Got it memorized?" he asked them. Solstice nodded, but Roxas just stood dumbly. "And take off that apron; it's too obvious." Solstice pulled the apron off and shoved it in Axel's face, as she took Roxas by his left wrist and pulled him to the restaurant section.

"I didn't know there was a restaurant part of this," Roxas mentioned.

"Yeah," Solstice laughed, "it's about two tables and the food sucks because Vexen doesn't know how to cook." Roxas raised an eyebrow; Vexen must have been the cook in the 'restaurant section'. He wondered faintly why so many people had Xs in their names these days, including himself.

In no time at all, police cars were surrounding the place, and Axel was just giving out the three or four details that he knew, and Roxas suddenly hoped that he didn't mention The Treble Union anywhere in his description. No, he couldn't- Axel was smarter than that.

Suddenly, Roxas heard some thundering, and turned to his left. Donna was hovering over him. "I found you!" she called angrily.

**Author's Note: Wow, that was a ridiculous chapter. xD I'm sorry, it was mostly to tie everything together. The next one will be more eventful, I promise. But hey, the police are going to go look for Larxene! (Yeah, like that'll do any good. That would make for a suckish fanfiction if it actually worked.) xD**


	10. The Chances you Never Took

**Author's Note: Bad news, guys, I'm starting to lose ideas for this fanfiction, so this is going to be the last chapter. But I promise that you guys'll love it; I've been thinking it up for quite some time now. I was thinking of starting a Teen Titans fanfiction, so if you're a fan of that, keep an eye out! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Chapter Nine:**

**The Chances you Never Took**

_It gains the more it gives, and then it rises with the fall_

_So hand me that remote, can't you see that all that stuff's a sideshow?_

_Such boundless pleasure, we've no time for later now._

_You can't await your own arrival, you've twenty seconds to comply._

_So let go, let go, jump in_

_Oh well, whatcha waiting for?_

_It's alright, 'cause there's beauty in the breakdown._

'Let Go' by Frou Frou

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Maybe I should get a job," Hayner considered aloud as he clutched his coffee in his hands. Olette, who was sitting across from him and Pence, rolled her eyes and shook her head before she brought her own cup to her lips.

It had been an entire week since Roxas had gotten a job. His entire schedule had been composed of waking up at twelve, starting work at three, ending work at seven, staying with Axel until midnight, and hanging out with Hayner, Pence and Olette for the rest of the time. This was the last day of Winter Break, and Roxas should have been getting off work soon.

"You can barely keep up with school. A job would kill you." Although Hayner frowned at this, he had to admit that it was true; even though his pockets were screaming for more than the twenty-dollars-a-week allowance he had been getting, a job would probably lower his D average, if that was even possible.

"Things are kind of lonely without Roxas in the afternoons, huh?" Pence asked after a momentary silence. Maybe he was just remembering his coffee outings with Hayner and Roxas before Olette got in the picture.

"This is only his first week of working!" Hayner snapped. "And we can go the _afternoons_ without Roxas. He's at work from three to seven for crying out loud!"

"Unless you count the nights," Olette said, "when he goes to go visit Axel over at the bar. Or at his house sometimes, I guess."

"There's always that." Hayner mumbled directly before finishing off the last of his coffee, some sugar visible at the bottom of the cup. "Hey, let's go out and do something today. Just the three of us." He smiled at his two friends, who both looked at each other quizzically and then back at Hayner. **Author's Note: Has anyone else noticed that Hayner kind of resembles Zell from Final Fantasy VIII?**

"Maybe you forgot," Olette began, "there's nothing to do here in Twilight Town."

"Maybe _you_ forgot, I'm smart." Hayner replied, giving her a toothy smile. **Author's Note: Anyone who remembers that line can grab themselves a free virtual cookie, because I'm too lazy to give it to you. x3**

Without a question after that statement, Olette and Pence threw away what was left of their coffee and followed Hayner outside. Before he could even begin to move towards where he wanted to bring them, however, he saw a tall figure, the head hooded so the face could not be seen, and the rest of the body cloaked. The body was obviously that of a tall female.

She was holding a knife.

And to think that they were lucky enough to not see a sign of her for a whole week.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"What? Uh, what did Larxene tell you?" Rai asked Seifer as they made their way towards the center of the Tram Commons. Seifer shot him a rather nasty look before turning back to shake his head.

"She _said_ that if I show her where Roxas works, she'd give me thirty dollars. So we're going up to meet her and show her." He looked back at Rai, daring him to ask another stupid question, and buried his hands in his pockets, staring straight forward again. Vivi, however, crept shyly out of the shadows.

"How do you know you can trust her?" Vivi asked.

Seifer looked down at his small companion. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right, Fuu?" He turned to the silver-haired girl.

"Affirmative," Fuu said, actually managing a bit of a change in her facial expression.

Finally, they reached where Larxene was, the black cloaked figure standing in the middle of the Commons. Her head jerked towards the four of them and she stuffed her knife back into her cloak's pocket. Her face wasn't visible past the shadows of the cloak's hood, but they all knew it was her from the knife. "Seifer," she noted.

Seifer nodded, "Give me the money and I'll show you where he works."

"Shit!" Hayner whispered where he, Pence, and Olette had been hiding behind the corner of a building. "They can't know where Roxas works, or else he's done for. He's the only one in the shop at that time."

"I know, I know!" Olette said, rubbing her temples, "I'm thinking..." After a moment, her eyes traveled down to a rock that was sitting at their feet. She picked it up, and before Pence or Hayner could stop her, threw it about fifteen feet from where Seifer, Rai, Fuu, Vivi and Larxene were standing. Suddenly, they all got nervous, and backed up.

"Distractions?" asked Pence, "That's perfect! And we'll phone Axel's Bar. Axel knows how to take care of Larxene."

"In the meantime, we need more distractions." Hayner mentioned, glancing at his friend Olette, and then giving her a wicked smile. "Since it was your idea and you've already demonstrated how great you are at it, why don't you be the distraction?" Hayner asked. He bent down and handed her another rock.

"You two owe me."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Roxas sighed as he locked up the shop again; still no sign of Donna, thank God. She was the reason he dreaded going to work; it seemed that every single time he stepped into that shop, that woman was there, pestering him for a doughnut. He shook it off as he saw Axel, just outside of the shop, right on time as always.

Without even saying a word, he walked up to Axel and kissed him on the lips, Axel barely having enough time to put his arms around Roxas's waist. When they pulled apart, Axel said, "Someone's happy to be off work today."

Roxas shook his head, blushing, "Just to see you." His shy smile then turned into a frown, however, remembering something. "The police still haven't found any sign of Larxene?" he asked, staring into Axel's antifreeze eyes.

Axel shook his head. "It's like she fell off of the face of the earth or something." They began walking towards the bar, Axel needing to get back on his shift. If either of them saw Larxene, it would be too soon, anyway. "This is your last day of Winter Break, isn't it?" Axel asked, looking down at his blond companion as they walked.

Roxas nodded slowly. "Tomorrow, I've got to go to school, then right after I've got work, but after that's free. It's not like I do homework at home, anyway." He chuckled lightly, suddenly wishing that Winter Break would never end. "It also means that tomorrow I've got to go back and live with my parents."

"You do?"

Roxas then looked back up at Axel, and just when he opened his mouth to speak, they found Solstice running out from the bar and up to the two of them. "Axel- Axel- Oh, hey, Roxas. Axel, Hayner just called, and-"

"He wants to ask you out on a date. _Still_?" Axel asked, putting his gloved left hand to his forehead. Hayner had been calling Solstice nonstop for the past week, asking the same thing, getting the same exact answer.

Solstice shook her head and then cleared her throat. She seemed out of breath. "He said that he, Olette and Pence saw a cloaked female figure, and she was carrying a knife, and she was with Seifer and his gang. They think that it's Larxene. Hayner and Pence are on their way over here, but Olette's keeping track of her and keeping her distracted; Seifer was going to show her where you worked."

Axel shook his head slowly. "Ugh. When she gets here, I want you, Hayner, Pence, Olette, and you," he said, turning to Roxas, "to stay inside of the bar. If she's got a knife, it means she's still dangerous. Got it memorized?"

"No," Roxas finally said, and the two of them looked at him, "This isn't just your job, Axel," he decided, his hands curling into fists and trembling. "I'm part of the problem, I want to be part of the solution. I'll be safe." He looked at Axel's eyes, which now seemed pleading, "I promise, Axel," he finished, softer.

"Me, too, then," Solstice said, making a Victory sign, "I'll bet you guys could use some help wrestling down my psychotic second cousin."

"Us, too," came Hayner and Pence, who had apparently been running after them, "but not until we actually get to Larxene!" Pence shouted, uncharacteristically demanding. "She's in the center of Tram Commons. We can still get there if we take Olette's Honda," He jerked his head over to where it was parked.

"I'll drive," Axel said, walking past him and grabbing the keys.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Where are all these _rocks_ coming from?" Seifer asked dumbly, dodging one that almost hit his face. **Author's Note: My God, I make Seifer seem like such a dipshit. xD** He turned back to Larxene, hoping for an explanation, as if she had anything to do with it at all. Larxene gave him a look and shook her head.

"You idiot," she spat, and pushed past him, heading towards Olette. Olette, who was still hiding behind the corner of the building, backed up as Larxene noticed her. Larxene grabbed her arm even as Olette thrashed to get away, but she quickly quieted down as she saw the telltale glimmer of Larxene's knife. "You, you're Roxas's friend, aren't you?"

Olette gulped, but sighed something of relief when she heard Axel's voice shout, "So are we." Larxene turned around and let go of Olette's arm, so Olette ran up to Hayner and Pence. Axel had his arms crossed over his chest in a very authoritarian-like style. "Larxene, come with us, we're going to take you to jail." **Author's Note: Hey, little kid, follow the nice man with the candy, he's going to molest you! xDD Sorry, sorry- bad humor.**

"I'm not going back there! It was horrible," Larxene decided, taking out her knife and letting her hood fall on her back. Her face was contorted with rage. She didn't notice Pence dialing the police.

"How could you tell?" Roxas asked, raising an eyebrow, "You were there for one night."

Pence hung up with the police and called a few more numbers. Thankfully, he was hidden by Axel's outrageous height, because Larxene still didn't know a thing about it. Whoever he was calling would get there fast, that much was sure; the middle of Tram Commons was about a minutes walk from most of the residential areas.

"They did things..." Larxene mentioned, her face suddenly blanking as her hand fell to her side. She then violently shook her head, as if shaking off some kind of a bug, and raised her knife to them again. "And it's all your fault I went there!"

"You threatened my boyfriend with a knife, Larxene," Axel said, cocking his eyebrow up. Roxas couldn't explain the mixed fear of fright and excitement when he heard the word 'boyfriend'. Did Axel really consider him that?

"Axel, I loved you!" Larxene cried, upset, bringing her hand down again. Her angry face was full of tears, but Axel didn't budge. For the second time, Roxas almost felt bad for this psychopath; he knew what it felt like to be in love with Axel. For once, he knew exactly what it felt like. It was hard.

"That's too bad," was all Axel could say, slowly and softly.

Larxene, however, ignored this as she brought her hand up again, grinning madly, the tears in her eyes still not quite that dry. As she readied her legs to charge, she shouted at the redhead, "But now I've got you both right where I want you!"

Larxene ran up at Roxas with the knife, clutching it in her hands. Roxas brought up both of his hands to cover his face just in case, and let out a scream so loud it could wake a city as Larxene brought down the knife.

Her hand was stopped by Axel's grip.

He looked down at her in rage, and then twisted the arm behind her back. "_You don't touch him._"

Before they knew it, several police cars were surrounding the area, and many children that Roxas recognized as his adoptive brothers and sisters, and his 'mom and dad' as well. Olette's parents, back from their trip were there also, along with Pence's parents. Hayner's parents weren't there, but Tristan was watching the scene excitedly as if it was something out of a movie. He would probably be eating popcorn if he had any on hand.

"Larxene," came a particularly large police officer with handcuffs as Larxene put her hand down and dropped the knife, "you are arrested for the threatening of the well-being of fellow citizens. Again. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney-"

"I'll be back," Larxene spat at the two of them. Hayner, Solstice, Pence and Olette were all crossing their arms and grinning victoriously at her. Axel's hand, which had been holding Larxene's back, was still balled into a fist, and Roxas was shaking so hard that he could barely see what was in front of him. Seifer, Fuu, Rai and Vivi must have left sometime earlier on, because they were nowhere to be found.

"_Anything you say can and will be held against you in the court of law_," the police officer repeated, "and this time, you won't be back, because I can guarantee you that you will have the company of at least three personal guards every day."

Larxene said nothing more as she was shoved in the back of the police car.

"_Roxas_!" came Roxas's mother, stomping up to him, the slightly tinier dad following her all the way. "What were you _doing_ here? In the middle of a crime scene? I knew it was a bad idea for you to stay at Hayner's all that time. You're never seeing that boy again. Or any of these other hooligans."

"Lara," Roxas said, of course, never calling his adoptive mother 'mom', "They had nothing to do with this. _I_ was the one that Larxene was after, because I 'stole her boyfriend'," Roxas said, putting his hands into little air-quotations, actually making Axel chuckle despite the situation of it all, which was an accomplishment.

"_Boyfriend?_" Lara asked, shaking her head, "No, no, no. Come on, Roxy, you're coming home," She put one forceful hand on Roxas's arm and began to drag him a few feet back, his father waving happily to Axel.

"Wait-" Axel said, putting a hand on Lara's shoulder. "Lara. Can I call you Lara?" Lara turned around and looked back at him, the expression of clear hatred on her face. Axel sighed. "This is going to be hard for you to hear, but Roxas can't stand it at home. He can't stand feeling like one out of one hundred." He paused. "Roxas needs to feel like a real person and he needs to be with someone that loves him."

"Your point?"

"Roxas needs to stay with me."

Lara, out of confusion or intense surprise, but certainly not anger, dropped her adoptive son's arm, and he rubbed it for a moment, giving her an odd look. Obviously, she wasn't the violent type. "With you? Why would I let-"

"Lara, let him go," the father said, and they all looked back at the tiny man with the glasses. "Roxas will be eighteen in a few months and I think he's old enough to be on his own. As long as he promises to call at least once a week."

Lara said nothing, just looked at her own feet.

"You mean it?" Roxas asked softly, looking at his two parents. "I can go live with Axel?" He looked up at his _boyfriend_, the word in his mind making him tingle with excitement, "I can live with you?" He then glanced over at Solstice, who was smiling and nodding excitedly. Even Hayner, Pence and Olette seemed extremely enthralled. Roxas looked back up at Axel. "Should I?" he asked more quietly.

"Roxas," Axel started, putting both of his hands on Roxas's arms. "Do you want to remember this as the chance you never took?"

Roxas slowly shook his head and smiled.

"Roxy... Roxas... I suppose." Lara decided.

"_You_ on the other hand, are in serious trouble, mister! I'm going to tie you up in your room and you're going to be fed nothing but saltine crackers..." Pence's mother went on a tirade as she stomped towards her son. **Author's Note: If you know what **_**this**_** reference is to, as well, grab yourself another virtual cookie. I've got bags of 'em. xD**

"Mom, I didn't have anything to do with this! I called the authorities!" Pence and his mother went on and on, but Olette's parents were too stunned to speak. They probably wouldn't reprimand her, anyway. In the eyes of Olette's parents, she could do no wrong.

"Roxas," Axel said, smiling down at him. With his parents, friends, and even the police watching, but especially Larxene, who was staring out of the window of the police car, he bent down to Roxas's height, put his arms around his slim waist, and gave him the most electrifying kiss that he had ever given to him before. "Let's get your things and go home."

"Home," Roxas repeated, tasting the word on his lips and his tongue. Nothing before had ever tasted so good.

Except maybe the chips that Roxas bought for Olette's party.

**Epilogue:**

Roxas dumped the last of his bags in the one guestroom that Axel and Solstice had. Suddenly, he heard a knocking on his door, which was odd, because it was open, and looked behind him. Solstice was smiling eagerly. "Big enough?" she asked, walking up to him and helping him unpack his bags.

"Definitely," Roxas laughed. Never before had he felt so at ease with everything and everyone in his life. When he talked to people, he didn't stutter or get angry. When he walked, he didn't look at his feet and blind everything else out of his world. This time for real, absolutely nothing in Roxas's life could go wrong.

"It's going to be fun having you around, I think," Solstice mused aloud, "I've never had a brother close to my age, even if you're not an official brother and even if you're, what, one or two years older than me. And I'll have somebody to show me around the school tomorrow. Speaking of." She looked back outside of his room and at the clock on the wall of the hallway. "Oh. It's almost midnight."

Roxas smiled brightly. "Yup. That means it's almost New Years."

Solstice looked at her new housemate with wide-eyes. "Today's New Years Eve? Really?" she asked incredulously, and Roxas nodded. Everyone else was so preoccupied on the Larxene ordeal for the past week that they had forgotten what day it was.

"Wow. 2009, then. Dunno if I'm ready. We should ring in the new year," Solstice said eagerly, "Let's go get Axel!"

Three, two, one. The clock tower went off, signaling the arrival of the new year, and Solstice stopped in her tracks. Standing in the entrance to Roxas's room was Hayner, carrying mistletoe. "You know, generally you ring in the New Year with a kiss, but I wasn't sure, so I brought this just in case."

Solstice shook her head, grinning. "You retard." She walked up to Hayner and gave him a quick peck on the lips, but that was enough to make Hayner smile like an idiot and fall into a puddle in the hallway. As Solstice stepped over him, she called to somebody, "Speed bump ahead, go slow."

Axel grinned as he stepped over the fainted boy and ran a hand through his fiery hair, walking up to Roxas. "Happy New Year," he said quietly and slowly.

Roxas nodded his reply. Yes, it was.

As their lips met one more time, every word that could be spoken didn't matter.

**Author's Note: Aww, how sweet! Again, I'm sorry for the abrupt ending of the series, but honestly, it would drag on and get really boring if I filled up that whole week, believe me. Dx I hope you liked it! Please review and favorite it!**

**And thank you to **_**all**_** of you who reviewed, your reviews made me keep writing this. They were funny and encouraging, and I love reading stuff like that.**

**Happy Fanfiction'ing!**


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